School uniform vouchers available for customers of Bradford housing provider Incommunities
Bradford Breakthrough welcome our guest speaker, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Building Society – Susan Allen, to our Annual Dinner
CEO, Trevor Higgins, recently joined a tour round Darley Street Market. The interior fit-out work is well underway and nearing completion in time for a Spring opening. It is very impressive with 3 floors offering everything from traditional market fare to food from all corners of the globe. It has an external space to host varied events and a huge screen.
Darley Street Market
CEO Trevor Higgins and many Breakthrough colleagues attending RISE which proved a fantastic launch event for Bradford City of Culture 2025.
A mind-blowing opening to what promises to be a wonderful year!
THE University of Bradford’s School of Management has been recognised for its work with small businesses and the opportunities it creates for students. Small Business Charter status has been given to the School of Management for the next five years.
The School of Management’s contributions were recognised in three categories: Support for Growth of Small Businesses, Stakeholder Engagement to Support Growth, and Encouraging Student Enterprise and Entrepreneurship. Bradford University has supported budding entrepreneurs with the £2.5 million Bradford-Renduchintala Enterprise Ecosystem (BREE), launched in January.
Professor Sankar Sivarajah, dean of the School of Management, said: “We are delighted to be re-accredited with the Small Business Charter award. Thank you to all our colleagues, students, alumni, and business community who have played their part in helping the School to secure this re-accreditation.”
Tim Rogers, chief executive officer of Bradford district-based firm Future Transformation, said: “With access to students, research, and innovation, the University of Bradford School of Management proves a vital resource for SMEs like mine and the wider business community locally, regionally, and nationally to grow sustainably and increase our skills, resulting in a strong and stable economy.”
The School of Management hopes to help develop businesses further when it launches its new MSc in Entrepreneurship Practice, in September 2025.
Kevin O’Hare, Principal
Keighley College is a further education institution, offering a range of academic and technical qualifications at multiple
levels for post-16 and adult learners.
The college has a rich local history, tracing its origins to Keighley Mechanics’ Institute, founded in 1825. It has been a member of Luminate Education Group since 2007.
Keighley College provides caring, authentic, and respectful learning experience, which seeks to prepare learners for a range of future opportunities. The close-knit college community holds its values at the heart of all it does.
The campus boasts an Industrial Centre of Excellence, equipped with industry-standard equipment, designed to encourage more learners to take up careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Keighley College, Bradford Road, Keighley BD21 4HQ
Tel: 01535 685000
Website: keighleycollege.ac.uk
A Bradford company handed over a cheque for more than a £1,000 to a charity after its fundraising efforts in aid of the organisation last year. Staff at Thorite baked cakes, dressed up daft, and fired up the barbecue in a year of fundraising for Huddersfield-based Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice.
The compressed air and fluid power specialists picked the group as their 2023 charity and handed over £1,216, which came from money-raising efforts across all Thorite’s sales and service centres, including those in Bradford, Leeds, and Sheffield. Forget Me Not provides expert clinical care, respite, therapy, days out, memory-making, end-of-life care, and bereavement support to children with life-shortening conditions, and their families, across West Yorkshire. It relies heavily on charitable donations to support its work.
Presenting the cheque to Masood Ahmed, of Forget Me Not, at Thorite’s Bradford headquarters, Managing Director, Stephen Wright, said: “We were delighted to do our bit to support the charity’s important work with children and families who are facing the toughest of life’s challenges.”
Masood Ahmed said: “It’s great when colleagues come together to raise funds to help us continue and build on our work and we’d like to say a big thank you to everyone at Thorite for their fund-raising efforts.”
Thorite has chosen the Alzheimer’s Society to benefit from its fund-raising efforts this year after a company-wide vote.
A UNIVERSITY of Bradford department has been ranked among the top 25 in Europe for the number of start-up companies created by graduates. The university’s School of Management, celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, has been ranked in 25th place for its Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) course in the 2023 PitchBook Universities list of the top undergraduate, graduate and MBA rankings at institutions across Europe. Bradford was ranked among business schools from universities in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden in the MBA category.
PitchBook’s annual university rankings compare business schools by totalling up the number of alumni entrepreneurs who have raised venture capital in the last 10 years. The University of Bradford posted 22 founder and business counts in PitchBook’s MBA list The 2023 listings are based on the number of founders who received a first round of venture funding between 1 January 2013 and 1 September 2023.
Professor Sankar Sivarajah, Dean of the School of Management at the University of Bradford, said: “We are delighted that we are among Europe’s top universities in the 2023 PitchBook University rankings. The School of Management is proud to be a launchpad for so many successful fledgling businesses created by our students. Completing an MBA can provide individuals with the opportunity not only to sharpen their business acumen and skills but also to increase their credibility when seeking investment for business ideas.”
The University of Bradford is helping support the entrepreneurs of tomorrow through the £2.5 million Bradford-Renduchintala Enterprise Ecosystem (BREE). The Dragons’ Den-style initiative is open to staff, students and members of the public.
The university is aiming to become the UK’s number one destination for entrepreneurs. It will build on the university’s long history of research and innovation. BREE was launched in January 2024 through a £1.25m donation from alumnus Dr Murthy Renduchintala, and a further £1.25m from the university.
The MBA PitchBook ranking is the latest recognition for the University of Bradford’s School of Management. It is ranked in the top two per cent in the world last year after it received a joint re-accreditation from the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Business Graduates Association (BGA), who are two of the world’s leading authorities on business education.
It is three years since the School of Management became the first business school in England to receive its initial joint accreditation from AMBA and BGA. A total of 300 of the world’s 16,000 business schools, including Bradford, are AMBA accredited, equivalent to two per cent.
THREE Bradford employers have been named in The Sunday Times Best Places To Work 2024. Arts organisation Bradford 2025, manufacturer Mansfield Pollard, and legal firm Schofield Sweeney all make the nationwide list this year. Over 70,000 companies and brands were surveyed to form the newspaper’s list. The list looked at businesses’ ability to engage and support people of all ages. It considered the following criteria: reward and recognition, instilling pride, information sharing, empowerment, wellbeing and job satisfaction.
Bradford 2024 Bradford 2025 was set up two years ago following the UK City of Culture winning bid. The list says the organisation has “quickly created a company culture for 56 employees”. It added: “Set up in 2022 when Bradford won a bid to become UK City of Culture, the mid-sized arts organisation has quickly created a company culture for 56 employees. There is an induction programme for new staff members, fortnightly all-company sessions and events to celebrate Pride, black history and mental awareness. Perks include an employee assistance helpline, high street discounts and flexible work patterns.”
Mansfield Pollard Dudley Hill-based Mansfield Pollard was praised for giving all its employees a £2,500 pay rise to help with the cost of living. The list said: “A ventilation specialist that has breathed fresh air into the business with an overhaul of the culture and new facilities after a management buyout in 2020, the same year it moved to a 64,000-square feet state-of-the-art headquarters in Bradford. New initiatives introduced by chief executive Louise Frankland include an employee forum. Last year, all 146 employees received a £2,500 pay rise to help with the cost of living. Other rewards include a day off for birthdays and paid charity days.”
Schofield Sweeney Schofield Sweeney is located in the city centre and has 167 employees. It has been highlighted as “one of the best work/life balances in the profession”. The list said: “It is not all about work at the law firm that battled for sub-postmasters in the Post Office scandal. Schofield Sweeney, based in Bradford, aims to offer its 167 employees one of the best work/life balances in the profession. There are tea and toast Thursdays, Iftar meals, massages, posture clinics and one volunteering day annually. The firm has a book club and bake-off competition, a healthcare insurance plan and has promoted its first non-lawyers to associate and director level.” It comes after the firm was named Employer of the Year Award at the Bradford Means Business Awards last summer.
A MULTI-cultural festive tree in Bradford is sending a united message of peace and togetherness this Christmas. Adorned with bright baubles, the tree can be seen standing tall in Centenary Square, opposite the historic City Hall. In a world facing grief, pain, and conflict, it’s hoped the tree will send a poignant reminder about Bradford’s strong multicultural friendships. It is a symbol of how communities and businesses from different faiths and backgrounds live and work together.
After many late nights, Mr Kader helped unveil the tree alongside representatives from different religions. As part of the ceremony, four baubles were added to the tree by Manoj Joshi DL MBE, Nirmal Singh MBE, vicar John Bavington, and Shamsuddin Ahmed.
Speaking at the ceremony in front of the tree, Mr Kader said: “Sometimes we take for granted what we actually have in our city: the great entrepreneurial spirit, the young population, and especially for me the multiculturalism in our population. In a world that’s often divided you only have to look around and realise how well we host people from so many backgrounds and cultures and are able to live in perfect harmony, enjoying each other’s cultures, foods and festivities. The tree symbolises this in many ways. So many organisations got together to show unity and remind people of this.
Bradford is often criticised. We, the BAME business committee, are on a mission to highlight the positives and the amazing thing is we don’t have to create anything, as most of the success is already here. The problem is we don’t tell people about them. The city has a history of economic success which over the years has emerged as a successful and entrepreneurial city, buzzing with so many brands. Today’s agenda is about true strength, which is multiculturalism. We will be using every opportunity to tell the world how well we do this.”
Mr Joshi, a well-known philanthropist, businessman, and pharmacist, sent a powerful message. “Co-existence or no existence,” he said. Speaking to the crowd, he said: “Being a minority within a minority, as a Hindu in Bradford, today I feel absolutely included. And I’ve always felt included. That is the history and legacy of Bradford, but the future of Bradford. The future of Bradford is about living, working and enjoying ourselves in love, peace and harmony. This is the evidence. This festive period of Christmas is an opportunity for all of us to come and celebrate the joy and love we share.”
Gill Arnold JPDL, chairman of the West Yorkshire bench of Magistrates, shared her joy at witnessing the event. It’s inclusive,” she said. We’ve much more in common than we’ve not. You can see, by the people who’ve turned up here, the warmth, the good relationships between us all.”
Rev Bavington, who set out to build bridges between Bradford’s communities when he first arrived in the city as an Urdu-speaking vicar, spoke about the bible. “Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. One of the teachings of Jesus is we should love our neighbour. The arrival of Jesus is the moment of the arrival of that message. His arrival is the epitome of showing what it means to love your neighbour. Christians believe Jesus was the epitome of love.”
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