Marketing Sheffield plan to sell city
CITY leaders in Sheffield are planning a new body to market the city as a business, tourism and leisure destination.
The organisation will be known as Marketing Sheffield and bring together Creativesheffield and other existing marketing and tourism work.
A report to be considered by Sheffield City Council later this week warns that Sheffield has “a less effective marketing model” compared to other major cities and the capabilities of Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool “are a genuine threat to the city’s economic prosperity and competitiveness in terms of attracting new investment”.
The document also raises concerns about the city’s performance in attracting tourists.
Proposals for the creation of Marketing Sheffield include plans for a board chaired by the leader of the council but including “strong representation from the private sector”.
If councillors give the idea the go-ahead work will start to close the authority’s tourism office at the Don Valley Stadium and move staff into Creativesheffield’s office and more detailed plans will be brought forward later this year.
Creativesheffield is currently part funded by Yorkshire Forward, which is due to be abolished.
The report warns that no funding has been agreed for Marketing Sheffield beyond March 2011 and raises the possibility of seeking private sector financial support.
