How jobs boost made UK curry capital a real hot property

ONCE a proud champion of industry, Bradford suffered a post-war slump and has struggled to recover. But the city is now on the rise again, a study reveals.

In fact it has been crowned the mostimproved city or town, beating the likes of Liverpool, Cardiff and Manchester.

A report by PwC and the Demos thinktank praised the West Yorkshire city’s resurgent economic success and advances in health and lifestyles.

They also published a list of the UK’s best cities and towns, which saw Oxford top and Reading second for the fourth year in a row. But it was Bradford and Liverpool which improved the most.

Bradford, more often seen as an example of joblessness and poverty, has recorded the biggest fall in unemployment in the UK over the past four years.

The city – six times voted Britain’s curry capital – has also posted a notable increase in skills among its older population, alongside improvements in work-life balance.

The report also carried a warning to the country’s wealthiest cities that they faced an increasing ‘price of success’ that is not holding back newlyrising competitors.

The difficulties for their residents include house prices and over-stretched transport systems.

In its accolade for Bradford, the report said the city ‘emerged as this year’s top improver, driven by jobs, work-life balance and skills among its 25 plus-yearolds’. The city’s unemployment rate was 4.1 per cent last year compared with 10 per cent in 2015.

The analysts ranked 42 cities and towns in terms of jobs, health, income, skill levels, work-life balance, the affordability of housing and commuting times.