Next Meeting - Wed 15 September 2010
Venue: National Media Museum, Bradford BD1 1NQ
Topic: Tourism, leisure and opportubnities for the property sector
Speakers: Gary Verity, Chief Executive, Welcome to Yorkshire
Patricia Tillotson, Visitor Economy Manager, Bradford Council
Nearest car parks: Sharpe Street (behind museum) and Hall Ings NCP
Meeting dates - 2010
Full BPF meetings happen every two months (Steering Group dates in 'About Us' menu)
Wed 10 November - Midland Hotel, Forster Square, Bradford BD1 4HU: Westfield will be attending this meeting
14 Meeting dates - 2011 (unless stated, venues to be confirmed)
Wed 19 January
Wed 23 March - @ Bradford Grammar School, BD9 4JP
Wed 18 May
Wed 13 July
Wed 14 September
Wed 16 November
14 July 2010 meeting - report and pictures
The networking and showcase event at Bradford City Football club attracted more than 80 attendees. Ample networking time was balanced with a report on what's been happening behind the scenes, plus two unannounced speakers that jumped onto the agenda at the 1th hour.
Click here for full report
Click here to see photographs from the event
If you attended the event, what did you think to it? Please answer 5 simple questions here
19 May 2010 meeting – report
Making Sustainability Work
More than 70 business men and women gathered for Bradford Property Forum’s breakfast meeting on Wednesday 19 May at the Ramada Jarvis Hotel in Bingley. ‘Sustainability’ was on the agenda, with presentations by Mark Fletcher, Arup Director and Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor to Bradford and Joanne Pollard, Chief Executive of CO2 Sense Yorkshire.
Click here to read the full report
Click here to view the photo gallery from the May meeting
17 March 2010 meeting - report
We still need Westfield – that’s the message from one of the country’s leading developers.
Caddick MD John Bywater spoke to Forum members on 17 March and told them that Bradford would be foolish to try and move the Australian firm from the scheme.
As expected, feedback from the event was excellent, with John clearly knowing his onions. Explaining how the face of retail has changed with the advent of the internet (the ‘death of distance’, according to the speaker), John highlighted that virtual shopping centres don’t need planning permission, and that more and more retailers are considering whether or not they need shops in order to reach customers.
Although it was noted that, as Andrew Mason himself has said, many other cities are in the same boat of having stalled projects, Bradford ’s brand suffers more than most, and retail is ‘bottom of the pile.’ The contrast in investment and construction between now and three years ago was stark, said John. 3,000 shops nationally are affected by corporate collapse and rents have declined by 8% since last year – a record.
Westfield ’s strong brand would help Bradford ’s cause when the Broadway scheme did eventually start, although it was pointed out that most competitors offer free parking as well as lots of choice.
Possible options to get the shopping centre scheme back on track include getting Yorkshire Forward or the local authority to take an equity stake. Models highlighted as worthy of investigation included tax increment financing, accelerated development zone or Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas (JESSICA).
Sponsorship opportunitiesship opportunities
Companies are invited to sponsor future events staged by Bradford Property Forum, as well as this website.
The website offers a more permanent opportunity (based on a yearly package) for companies to get their name, brand and logo recognised.
Call 01274 230057 for details.