Bradford - Economy

Economy

Bradford's textile industry has been in decline for many years and the city has suffered from de-industrialisation. Some areas of Bradford are among the worst levels of social deprivation in the UK, with widespread pockets of exclusion, and rates of unemployment in some wards exceeding 25%., though other areas of Bradford are among the least deprived in the UK. The economy is worth around £7 billion, contributing around 8.4% of the region's output, and making the district the third largest (after Leeds and Sheffield) in Yorkshire & Humber. The economy has diversified and the city is home to several major companies, notably in finance (Yorkshire Building Society, Provident Financial), electronics (Pace Micro, Filtronic), engineering (NG Bailey, Powell Switchgear), and manufacturing (Denso Marston, BASF, Bailey Offsite). Supermarket chain Morrisons has its head office in Bradford.

One of the city's biggest employers is Provident Financial plc, a financial services group that specialises in Home Collected Credit (HCC) and owns Vanquis Bank which offers credit cards. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The company was established in 1880 by Joshua Kelley Waddilove to provide affordable credit to families in West Yorkshire. It has moved into a 250,000 sq ft (23,000 m2), £45 million, flagship headquarters building in the city centre creating hundreds of jobs for the city. The building also houses a 200-bed Jurys Inn hotel. Thomas Cook has its Tour Operators Head Office, which employs about 1000 staff in the city.

In October 2011 Plans to regenerate Bradford city centre, including the long-delayed Broadway shopping centre, was given a boost as Bradford Council secured £17.6 million of regional growth funding from the government, which it will match to create a £35 million "growth zone" in which companies would get business rate relief in exchange for helping people get training and jobs.

In April 2012 retail giant Freeman Grattan Holdings secured a deal to open a new head office and house around 300 staff in the centre of Bradford. The mail order and online retailer will transfer office staff from its Lidget Green base, where Grattan has had a presence since 1934, to a Grade II-listed former wool warehouse on the edge of Little Germany.