£1bn windfall from win
COVENTRY could benefit from a windfall in excess of a billion pounds after winning the race to become UK City of Culture 2021.
That is the estimated economic uplift to the city by the man who led Coventry’s bid to land the coveted accolade in 2021.
David Burbidge, who heads up the Coventry City of Culture Trust, revealed the revised figure in March this year.
Mr Burbidge said then that the economic benefit to the city would be considerably more than was originally thought.
The revised estimate is also a conservative one, according to Mr Bur- bidge, who said it could be “even greater”.
The £1bn estimate is based on a meeting Mr Burbidge had with the people at the helm of the current UK City of Culture – Hull.
The Coventry City of Culture Trust initially estimated a successful bid would bring £80m of economic benefit to Coventry.
Mr Burbidge said: “The projections for Hull are £1bn. Because Coventry is far better placed in the centre of the country, and sits at the heart of the transport network, the uplift here could be even greater and well above £1bn.
“Our initial £80m fore- cast was deliberately conservative, as Liverpool’s position as European City of Culture was worth about £800m to it.
“But I’m now far more confident of the real impact being far greater.”
The shortlist to become UK City of Culture was drawn up by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Initially 11 cities were in the running - Coventry, Paisley, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Swansea, Hereford, Perth, Portsmouth Warrington Wells and St Davids.
In May a final shortlist was drawn up featuring Coventry, Paisley, Stokeon-Trent, Sunderland and Swansea.