You get used to disappointment being from Bradford. Continually overlooked and let down, an unfair reputation based on misunderstanding and laziness, and a historic lack of investment. Tuesday’s announcement that Bradford will be the UK’s City of Culture 2025 gives us the opportunity to change all that. And it couldn’t be more deserved.
One of the first jobs we did at Out of Place was to pitch for the branding for Bradford’s 2025 City of Culture bid. That opportunity came too early for us but over the past 2 and a bit years we’ve been lucky to be part of a collective wave of optimism within the city’s creative sector. We’ve seen our own growth mirrored in the growth of optimism and civic pride among our peers and fellow Bradfordians.
Working closely with the fantastic Bradford Producing Hub collective and regularly rubbing shoulders with forces for good such as the Brick Box and Bradford BID at Assembly Bradford, has given us a front seat experience of how hard the city’s creative sector has worked for this, and how deserved it is. From our studio at Assembly Bradford, we’ve witnessed creative plans being hatched, stewed over, and brilliantly executed. We’ve also been able to get directly involved ourselves, co-delivering the People Make Place project… A series of creative high street interventions in Manningham that featured in the 2025 judges’ visit.
We’re lucky to work with a range of fantastic clients from all over the UK in a number of different sectors. But as an agency, we will always owe our success to our clients in Bradford’s cultural sector, who gave us the opportunity at the start of our journey and will always be integral to our identity and ambitions. We will always bring a Bradford ‘can-do’ attitude to any project and will always be proud to call ourselves a Bradford agency.
The best thing about Bradford’s 2025 success is that countless others will have the opportunity to make it in Bradford. Our city has the talent and attitude to become a recognised centre for amazing culture and great design. Now it has the platform.
