We are ready to switch off our old website

In April we switched on our new website and in mid-September we will switch off our old website.

Since January we have moved over 2,000 pages from the old website to the new website. Before we started, we carried out a content audit to make sure that nothing important has been missed.

We are happy that all critical content has now been moved, so it is time to say goodbye to the old website.

What does this mean for you?

If you are already using our new website then you do not need to do anything different.

If you are still using our old website, then why not try the new one?

This is what the old website looks like:

Old Bradford Council website

And this is the new one:

New Bradford Council website

If you are not sure which website you have been using, there is also a clue in the website address. If the address begins with legacy.bradford.gov.uk or www.bradford.gov.uk/bmdc
then you are still on our old website.

Linking to http://www.bradford.gov.uk

If you use links to the old website, after mid-September the links may not work. You will need to start using new links. The easiest way to find the correct new link for a page is to use the website search on our new website.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for on our new website, please use the ‘Rate this page’ form which you will find on almost every page of our website.

Enterprising Bradford

Did you know that Bradford has a £9.2 billion economy, the eighth largest in England?

As the district’s top business leaders and companies were recognised at the Bradford Means Business awards in June, and in July Bradford was named one of the top 10 places to work in the UK, we thought we’d seize the moment and share some evidence to show that Bradford really is on the up. But how has this come about and what do the key statistics tell us?

Bradford plays a key role in the regional economy, with 46,000 people commuting between Leeds and Bradford each day. This is the largest flow between any two cities in the UK. Over 40 large companies are headquartered in the Bradford district, employing 370,000 people across the UK with a combined turnover of £30 billion – impressive numbers for sure.

Economic growth since 2008 has outstripped regional and national averages and we have seen a 70% increase in foreign investment in Bradford in the last year. The district’s Job Seekers claimant rate has reduced by a significant 22% in the last 12 months, which compares very favourably to the UK average drop of 7.1%.

What has driven this growth?

The £35 million City Centre Growth Zone has played a key role, offering unique financial incentives and benefits to businesses. The result has seen a real expansion in business activity and an increase in footfall rates across the city centre with 250 businesses creating over 465 new jobs in the city centre.  Coupled with the opening of the Broadway shopping centre which is projected to attract an additional 9 million shoppers a year, this positive outlook and growth has made the city centre a very attractive proposition to both businesses and visitors. Plans are underway for further large-scale mixed use schemes and Grade A office developments with negotiations taking place with private sector partners.

Happy staff at the successful Forks Cafe!

We went to the heart of Bradford’s independent quarter to see the positive impact of Growth Zone funding on thriving business and social enterprise Forks Café. We spoke to Jon Royle, Chief Executive of the Bridge Project which owns Forks Café who explained, “Since we opened Forks Café we’ve had a fantastic reception from the public and local business community. We usually appear in the top 10 Bradford restaurants on Trip Advisor and we’ve provided dozens of our beneficiaries with structured work experience, many of whom have gone on to find full time jobs. Without the support of the Growth Zone none of this would have been possible. Thanks to the investment from Bradford Council we’ve opened a popular business that achieves important social outcomes.”