Insider Invest in Halifax breafast event

Jeremy Hall of Dean Clough Ltd and Shelagh O’Neill, Calderdale Council, discuss the heritage, culture and USP of Halifax at this Insider event.

Transcript

00:00I think the main thing really was just the enthusiasm and the energy and the

00:12real passion to make Halifax and Calderdale a really fantastic place to

00:16be now and in the future because whilst everyone's kind of keen about what's

00:20happening at the moment and the attractions and the vibrancy of the

00:23place, it's really about how do we sustain that, how do we sustain business,

00:27how do we sustain culture and visitor economy and so on, so I just thought the

00:30passion was incredible. So I think we're working really hard as a partnership and

00:34we work with our partners at West Yorkshire and I think we do really well

00:36so Calderdale as a place performs really highly in terms of business and in terms

00:41of skills and employment. There is always more we can do and I think that's the

00:45focus for the future is really building on the work we've done with our

00:47Inclusive Economy Board and our Employment and Skills Partnership to make

00:50sure that we're meeting the needs of business so they can grow, they can stay

00:53here and create a future for our young people and for people who are returning

00:57to work at an older age. Well I think the core of Halifax is obviously

01:01the heritage and that hopefully will stay and we'll look after it and we're

01:04the guardians of that aren't we, we're the custodians of the past but also

01:07we're the the architects and designers of the future and I think what we're

01:10going to see is a really fit-for-purpose 21st century market town that just

01:14really meets the needs of the community and visitors and investors and that's

01:18just a fantastic place to be. I think first and foremost just the wonderful

01:23turnout of people, great mix of people who are here and also you know

01:28the great panel mixture of people who are on the panel you know who have all

01:33got their individual voices and an enormous amount to add to the overall

01:37debate. I'd sum that up in terms of heritage, culture, the offer, the wonderful

01:43thing about the countryside, the housing stock, the schools, places to work

01:48obviously I'm biased and we're like Dean Clough and I think that the the

01:52collective offer that it provides is a wonderful place to live and work. I mean

01:57I see it as a continuing investment and an evolution of the core ingredients

02:03that we have, digital, creative, you know aspirant people and organisations and

02:10investing in the infrastructure and the heritage that we have here creating even

02:15better place to live and work. I think all those key heritage elements are a

02:22massive part of the thread of the town and they're places that people

02:30have been connected to for decades and generations. So if you take someone like

02:34Dean Clough, thousands upon thousands of people have a connection with this place

02:40as their place because their families have worked here, their parents have

02:43worked here or their grandparents have worked here and the same may be a little

02:48more tenuous when it comes to the Peace Hall in terms of how far it's going back

02:51but it's part of the collective history of the town and I think when you then

02:56connect that as well with places like Shibden Hall and Bankfield Museum it's

03:02a rich, diverse and compelling offer.

03:13you