Sponsored by
CITY MASTERPLAN: Time to get creative
"EVERY successful city has a vibrant evening economy," says Brendan Moffett, marketing guru at city development agency Creative Sheffield.
Yet Sheffield offers very little to keep people entertained – and spending their money – in the city centre between 5pm and 8pm.
Offices close, the shops shut, and bars and restaurants have yet to get into full swing. People who might otherwise meet friends and socialise in the city centre in the early evenings instead drift home to the TV.
Now entertainment and culture are moving centre stage as part of Sheffield's bid to attract new investment. By 2020, it is hoped, a bold and detailed regeneration programme should help the city create 30,000 new jobs and boost its economy to the tune of 1 billion.
Creative Sheffield dipped its toe in the water just before Christmas, by supporting the month-long German Market in Barkers Pool.
And next week, the city development company launches 'Five40Five' – a series of early evening concerts in the City Hall, aimed at young professionals, which is already oversubscribed.
But that is just the start of an ambitious programme to make the most of cultural events.
As well as building up early evening attractions – which Mr Moffett hopes will encourage city centre retailers to open late at least once a week – there are plans to capitalise on the major events the city already attracts.
"When there are landmark events in the city they are never co-ordinated," says Mr Moffett. "In the past it has all been piecemeal. We have got to step forward."
One of the first opportunities to do that comes when London's Victoria and Albert Museum's Vivienne Westwood exhibition comes to Sheffield.
The maverick fashion designer's work is currently touring the world and arrives at the Millennium Galleries in May. It is hoped the exhibition -also visiting Beijing, Bangkok, Tokyo, San Francisco and Milan - will be the catalyst for a series of other attractions.
READ MORE
30,000 jobs boost for city
The masterplan at a glance
STAR OPINION: Lady luck is looking our way.
Evening all! – Time to get creative
LIFESTYLE: How Sheffield Eagles star Jack is keeping kids fit.
TODAY'S COLUMNIST: Jane Cartledge on how you can save a life.</a
Sheffield recording star Paul Carrack happy on the road.
LETTERS: Co-op closure inevitable.
BUSINESS: Sheffield gas fitter invents energy-saving device.
Your Business channel video bulletins.
Main news index
Sport latest.
"We want to have a fashion show and a programme of activities that will develop the evening economy and create a market for short leisure breaks.
"Ultimately, we are in the game to get the bigger retailers to commit to Sheffield, but we have to build their confidence in the city."
There are also plans to appoint a city centre night manager, whose job will be to develop a programme of early evening events.
And Sheffield's marketeers want to shout more loudly the good news stories about local success stories which will promote Sheffield as a city at the cutting edge.
The launch of the Sheffield Economic Masterplan is a 'first' for the city in itself, and sparked interest from other leading UK centres before the ink was even dry.
The Masterplan's key aim is to bridge a 1.1 billion gap between what the Sheffield economy could produce and what it currently produces.
In the process, the plan aims to bring the real employment rate in Sheffield up to the national average by helping 16,000 jobless Sheffielders to find work.
To do that, taking current commuting and migration patterns into account, the city will have to create almost twice as many new jobs – 30,000.
The Masterplan also aims to raise average incomes from current levels of 22,500 to 25,000. But that means Sheffield will have to significantly reduce the number of under-qualified people in the workforce who have fewer than five GCSEs at grade C and above – and increase the numbers with two or more A Levels or a degree.
Sheffield is aiming high, but the analysis supporting the Masterplan makes it clear radical targets and measures are the only option.
"Sheffield does not have the wealth and prosperity which would allow a slow or low growth option to be pursued," says the Masterplan.
On the plus side, however, the Masterplan's authors assert that the city has become an attractive market for external investment for the first time in 40 years. Among other things, the city boasts the best economic and investment growth rates in the UK, the highest employment growth of any leading UK city over the last 10 years, and the fastest-growing creative and digital industries sector.
The city's rising popularity is evident in the 40 per cent growth in office rents over the last four years – the highest growth of any UK regional office centre. Meanwhile, the economic improvement is reflected in a 27 per cent increase in weekly wages in the city between 2000 and 2006, compared with a national average growth of 24.5 per cent.
However, the city still has an image problem.
"The perception of the city held by many people, including potential investors, is many years out of date," says the Masterplan.
"There is a need to improve the image of the city, and Creative Sheffield has a role to play in developing an agreed brand identity and promoting the strengths of the city to visitors and investors."
READ MORE
The masterplan at a glance
STAR OPINION: Lady luck is looking our way.
Evening all! – Time to get creative
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
