A £1.5 MILLION cash injection aims to breathe new life into key city-centre shopping streets in danger of being left behind by the opening of The Broadway shopping centre.
The new scheme offers grants of up to £141,000 to traders willing to take on an empty shop in five key streets: Darley Street, Kirkgate, Ivegate, Rawson Square and Rawson Place.
These traditional shopping streets have felt the knock-on effect of big names like Marks & Spencer, Boots and WH Smith moving down to Bradford’s new £260 million Broadway shopping centre.
The new initiative by Bradford Council will help new traders set up shop in these empty units. It will fund up to half of the cost of setting up shop, such as buying equipment or specialist machinery, or improving the property.
Successful applicants can also take advantage of an existing rate rebate scheme, which offers business rates breaks of up to £16,000 for every job created.
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