Bosses on Bradford

In November 2000 Bradford Council Chief Executive Ian Stewart held a series of 7 "business breakfast meetings" with the district's bosses to discuss the councils "2020 Vision strategy". Here are a mixed bunch of extracts from the minutes of those meetings:

2020 Vision

Christopher Rodrigues (Bradford & Bingley): There are problems for long term visions because of political changes.

Ian Stewart (Bradford Council Chief Executive): Task is more to create a vision which is robust enough to survive political changes. Future is more important than position in party.

Christopher Rodrigues: This is too big for the political process. Can we do it here?

Michael Johnson (leader Harrogate Council / Yorkshire Forward): In terms of the political process, usually disagree about the means to an end rather than the end in itself. Cannot divorce politics from decision making. Can rise above the bickering and feuding but cannot escape from decision making.

Kevin Bond (Kelda Group): Who are the brightest people in the organisation; pull them out put up with the squeals from line management and tell these people to come back in 4 weeks with a plan for the next 6 months on how you would tackle this. Involve architects, planners, visuals. Talk to individual business leaders about their business plans. This is what the Victorians did.

Michael Johnson: "Young Turks" team <35 whose job is to look 30 years ahead. Stirred up a hornet’s nest, but this was what was wanted.

Ian Stewart: Don’t want a subsidy approach to situation. For instance the community at Royds has done a lot for themselves.

Ian Stewart: Problems have been tackled the wrong way round; been pouring money into social support; need to generate wealth

Ian Stewart: Council facilitate business, not get heavily involved in actually running things themselves. It gets the council into things which shouldn’t be involved in.

Ian Stewart: Conclusions: come back to business with draft findings. Have regular get togethers.

Ian Greenwood (leader Bradford Council): Don’t see these meetings as one offs. Will continue to engage business community. Partnerships are not about structure but belief.

Council

Tim Blott (Bradford & District Newspapers): felt the council had done more in the last few months than in last few years. There is some movement and it is very welcomed. There was an enormous fear that it would be lost in waffle.

Catherine Riley (Kirkgate Centre): Every retail business is struggling, people operating on the margin. Its not just the M & Ss with higher management issues to sort out. In this environment need not to be coming up against obstacles in Planning for instance. The Council is seen as short sighted, blinkered and with a lack of joined up thinking.

John Pennington (Penningtons Variety Club): A lot of the council people are "grey". Can’t get decisions out of them. If don’t have enthusiasm in employees, have a basic problem.

Ian Greenwood: recognised that in the past the political establishment was insular, inward looking and parochial. Not concentrated on delivery. Less easy for the council to keep discussions quiet until plans/thoughts are further forward. Bfd sometimes gets tied up in the process.The relationship with the T & A has been tetchy in the past, better now with T.Blott, relationship better though started from a low base.

There are good officers in the council, others who are less so; watch this space for management changes.

Robert Allen (Eddisons Commercial): Just need to get existing schemes going. Developments going to happen and then don’t. Council needs to be an enabler and not get too involved.

Catherine Riley: Rawson market is an absolute eyesore; it’s a tip. Council weren’t in touch with operators. Tried to get too involved. Retail businesses in city centre have been systematically bankrupted because council couldn’t see what was happening in front of them.

Council wants to sell sites for max ££ rather than getting people onto sites, many of which have low value because they’re next to burnt out buildings etc. Council needs to get out of asset ownership. Would give big savings in terms of running the council.

Development

Elizabeth Tolchard (Regent Group): Attract big names in retail; we don’t have Rackhams or designer shops. Can we learn from Leeds how they did it? Can we use their strategies? People aspire to be better. City centre currently aimed at low incomes, low aspirations.

Jeffrey Richmond (Bradford City FC): Build Odsal, new market; ethnic cooking shops. Declare a war on litter. Can be done; give it a high profile.

John Pennington: Get an outside consultant to look at traffic management; what makes a shopping centre work, crime prevention, shops and parking. People want to and need to live in a city centre. There have been some conversions recently of old buildings into city centre flats.

Appearance

Asghar Chughtai (Anzek Plastics): Blitz on cleanliness. Need to educate, advertise. Could target fast food outlets.

Tim Blott: It’s a cultural issue; the depot where the cleaners work from is a dismal dump. Need to profile the corridors into the city. Nail your colours to the mast. Get big business in particular to sponsor.

Ian Greenwood: made the point that many of the people who "do" the bins are green card holders (disabled) so although it’s praiseworthy to employ people in this way, it doesn’t create the impression of efficiency.

Howard Bell (Provident Finance): Cleanliness needs to be a crusade. Viewed as one that we’ll win, that we commit resource, effort, and inspiration. Set a real example, concentrate on changing attitudes.

David Wilkinson (Bradford TEC): Quick hits underscore cleanliness. Cohesion v important. People need something to hang their hat on. If provide the right environment people will keep the place clean.

Transport

Tim Blott: Would like to see trams (like Sheffield ) in 20 years time. Would give character and transport. Brings together some of character the city desperately needs. Retail has died and is sorely needed. Infrastructure desperately needed eg park/ride in places like Oxford/York.

Gordon Black (Peter Black Holdings): Main concern is infrastructure. Keighley is even worse. Access to west is OK but to the East it's a colossal deterrent.. Bingley by pass will just move the blockage. For his business Keighley is loosing out to the Midlands. It's just not efficient enough.

Publicity

Tim Blott: Have the opportunity to name and shame businesses which don’t get involved. Often just get the same people who always get involved.

Gordon Black: Perception as important as reality. Big PR job to be done. Play to advantages of areas like Ilkley; these areas need to have their own identity as peoples loyalty is to Keighley/Ilkley rather than Bfd.

Bradford

Michael Parkinson (Airedale Springs): felt Bfd was seeking an identity. Problem lay in the bfd "and district" issue. Keighley’s only relation with Bfd is the post code. The metropolitan district is in need of an identity.

Rob Fleming (Pace): thought Bfd had an identity but not the one that was wanted eg bad press from low economy and racial issues. Bfd is in the shadow of Leeds. Reversing this will be a problem.

Michael Parkinson: We’re fearful to talk about racial issues. Being politically correct is strangling communications. The word "integrate "is seen as not accebtable. We need to discourage that which divides. How do we tolerate an "Asian Business Forum". We can’t go on pretending. Nobody genuinely addressing it without being pilloried. What are we doing to crack it; if we don’t we’re heading for problems.

Rob Fleming: reasonable amount of labour, level of education needs addressing. The University is struggling. Pace have found the council and TEC wonderful. The "ambassadors" scheme not a good idea; need to creep up on people, be surreptitious about promoting Bfd. The labour force has proved incredibly adaptable. Getting 100 new graduates to com to Bfd was a problem; once they’re here, they like it because of good value housing, easy access to countryside and Leeds city centre. Staff turnover is v. low.

Catherine Riley: City centre project as an example. Council city centre Manager can’t be proactive because she spends all her time chasing contractors, not getting cooperation from other council employees. Prudential (CR’s employer) is assessing whether it’s worth investing in this project again. Need to look at alternative ways of doing things; example of Coventry is a bit extreme but do need to do something different. Performance indicators.

John Pennington: Levels of crime abysmal; 6 officers in city centre at night.

John Pennington: How do we get the prosperity back? There’s nothing of any quality in the city.

Education

Stephen Davidson (Head, Bradford Grammar): Need people to have the confidence to come into the city. People who live in the Wharfe valley will look for independent education first in N Yorkshire then come to Bradford rather than Leeds. For shopping and entertainment, they will go to Leeds. Parents look to independent school education because they want quality of education and academic qualifications. Many parents believe in selective education and want their children to be where "its cool to do well" if put bright boys and girls together.

John Pennington: independent sector has done so well because are offering quality. Dixons CTC is a beacon; every school should be like Dixons where every child is a salesperson for the school.

Michael Johnson: Need quick actions, manage future from the present. What should Bfd be doing now to position people for the future? Education is major though it won’t pay off for 10/15 years. Need support for SMEs. Will always need plumbers and hairdressers. In effect we are entering the 3rd Industrial revolution where there will be no resource constraints. Need to develop the economy to get there.

Paul Jagger (Yorkshire Forward / TUC): Address education and training so that for instance when call centres are replaced employees are able to respond and quickly. Attitudes to class and ethnicity need to change; Bfd could be a window on the world.

John Pennington: Rank and file schools in city have polarised into white and black.

Employment

Christopher Rodrigues: About to see a significant structural change. The competitive advantage that most communities have now will go away. Something very fundamental is changing akin to the coming of the railways. Infrastructure issue is huge. The change is geometric rather than an arithmetic progression.

Michael Parkinson: Imbalance of call centres. Internet will replace these and call centres will become advice centres to help people use the Internet services. Will be operating 24 hrs a day so people will want safe transport/ parking into work at all times. Current working patterns will change.

Julian Cummins (Yorkshire Forward / Avista Ltd):The economic and social aspects need to be one agenda. Can’t predict skills for 5 yrs time. Have some very specific short term education requirements. Collapsing new product development times; use the FE colleges for things like this. As well as the hard skills, need self-confidence, a belief in the future. This is absent in many parts of Bfd; there is a sense of desperation. Business doesn’t think about community enterprise.

Full minutes of breakfast meetings

"2020 Vision - background and consultation"; report to Bradford TUC

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