COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Coventry is bidding to become the UK City of Culture in 2021 in what is described as a "huge opportunity".



The bid is being led by a group of councillors, businessmen, arts groups and the city's two universities.

The council said it hoped the bid would be worth £80m to the area's economy and prompt a huge rise in tourist numbers.

In 2013, Hull was named the UK's City of Culture for 2017, beating off competition from Leicester, Dundee and Swansea Bay.

The city council agreed to support the bid at its meeting on Monday.

It said it would provide up to £250,000 to prepare the bid, with support from private investors.

Councillors agreed to spend a year researching and developing the bid, followed by a fundraising campaign, before delivering a final submission to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2017.

Businessman David Burbidge, who is leading the bid, said: "This is a huge opportunity for Coventry, particularly with support from Warwickshire and the surrounding area, and I feel we are very well placed to launch a serious and ultimately successful bid.

"The social, cultural and economic possibilities this would bring are absolutely vast. We have a wonderfully diverse city and some strong cultural assets.

"In Coventry we have great museums, the Belgrade Theatre, The Coventry Godiva Festival and vibrant independent arts groups."

The UK city of culture scheme was started by the government in 2009, following the success of Liverpool's European City of Culture title.

The UK scheme is awarded every four years.

Faye Abbott, who has been leading the bid for the council, said the bid was an "amazing opportunity" for the city.

"The time is right for Coventry to go for it," she said. "It's time for us to get serious about transforming the image of the city, raise our profile... and make Coventry people really proud of all we have here."

Thousands attend 'perfect' UK City of Culture bid launch at Godiva Festival



Coventry’s bid to be UK City of Culture in 2021 has been given “the perfect public launch” – according to the man leading it.

The team behind the bid took over the Rhythm Tent at Godiva Festival on Sunday and treated crowds to a range of music, dance, theatre and other activities such as cake-making and graffiti art.

David Burbidge, chair of the Coventry City of Culture Trust, said there had been an outpouring of public support for the city’s bid.

He said: “The people of Coventry have shown that they are truly behind our bid to be UK City of Culture and it was great to be able to showcase such a wide variety of artists and performers from every corner of the city.

"It really was the perfect public launch.

“We had more than 40 acts in total and the feedback from people was absolutely phenomenal – many were taken aback at the array of talent that Coventry has to offer.

“We are grateful for all of the support we have had so far – from the public, from the media and from businesses, whose backing made an event like this possible.

“But this is just the beginning. We are determined to win this title for Coventry and that means getting as much support we possibly can, including on social media because, when all said and done, this is the people’s bid and it will be the people of Coventry who get all the benefits of UK City of Culture.”

A successful bid could be worth up to £80 million to the economy in the year alone as well as providing a positive social and cultural legacy for the city.

Coventry City Council, The University of Warwick, and Coventry University are Principal Partners of the bid and are providing significant support. The Ricoh Arena is bid sponsor while Jaguar Land Rover, Friargate, Coventry Building Society, the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce and CEF (City Electrical Factors) are all bid event sponsors.

Coventry 2021 City of Culture bid wins business backing

Coventry’s bid to become UK City of Culture is being backed by the local chamber of commerce.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has become a bid event sponsor to support the city’s efforts in landing the prize in 2021.

A successful bid will not only bring social and cultural benefits to the area, it’s expected to attract around £80million to the local economy in the year alone and a total of approximately £150million.

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the chamber, said: “We are right behind the bid for Coventry to be UK City of Culture in 2021 and have every faith in the team and the city to put in a compelling and successful bid.

“Of course, as a business organisation the potential economic benefit is an attractive proposition but this goes beyond that – it would just be a great boost for the whole of the city and would leave a positive legacy.

“Over recent weeks and months, we have really seen the efforts gather momentum and certainly the business community is right behind the bid and we will do everything we can to help.”

The chamber launched a Go For Growth campaign at the start of 2016 to look at ways the region can achieve economic growth.

One element of the campaign was looking at the city’s and the region’s image and Ms Bennett believes the bid itself can help to change perceptions.

She said: “Already, the bid is helping to highlight what is happening in the city and that has to be good news.

“Coventry’s heritage of being a city of invention, of diversity and of moving people in so many ways over the years is rightly being celebrated and landing the top prize would really boost our image.”

David Burbidge, chair of the Coventry City of Culture Trust, said business support was crucial.

He said: “The financial backing is very important in enabling us to prepare the best possible bid and also showcasing what Coventry has to offer.

“But, more than that, we can together show how much the whole of the city wants this bid to be successful.”

Coventry UK City of Culture bid chairman receives CBE from Prince Charles



After a year of personal achievement, the man behind the bid to be UK City of Culture wants to make 2017 a year to remember for Coventry.

David Burbidge, the chairman of the Coventry City of Culture Trust, has attended his investiture at Buckingham Palace where he received his CBE from HRH Prince Charles after being recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

He was recognised for services to cultural philanthropy in the West Midlands - especially in Coventry and Warwickshire – and now he is determined to bring one of the most prestigious accolades to the city as the UK City of Culture 2021 will be announced in the New Year.

David, who is a Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands, said: “It was a very proud and humbling occasion. I never expected the CBE. I have simply tried to do as much as I can to help causes close to my heart that I believe are hugely beneficial to the well-being of the area.

“The bid to be City of Culture is probably the biggest single project I have been involved with and I am determined that we will bring it to the city."

He added: “I know the great benefits it will bring to every community in Coventry. We are a diverse city with many great things going on but also areas of real need that I believe City of Culture would help us to address.

“In the space of just over a year, we have drawn in wonderful support from the people of the city, from the businesses, from the city council, the two universities and from the cultural organisations as well as getting backing from the wider West Midlands region and achieving a national profile.

“But we know there is much more work to be done and we will work as hard as we possibly can to deliver this fantastic prize for Coventry - one that it truly needs and one it would use to the maximum.”

David is the chairman of Burbidge and Son Ltd, a family-owned company which celebrates its 150th anniversary next year and manufactures quality kitchen and bathroom furniture at two factories in Coventry.

He chaired the Belgrade Theatre board for seven years and led the £14m project to build the new B2 auditorium and remodelling the whole building.

Until recently he was also main board member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and was the chairman of the Central Campaign for the £112m transformation of the RSC theatres at Stratford-upon-Avon. More recently he has been the champion for the £4.5m campaign for restoration of the Swan Wing at the theatre.

David was also the founding Chairman of the Coventry Cathedral Development Trust, which raised more than £5m for the Cathedral ministry and for endowment.

He is a significant philanthropist predominantly in the arts and culture sector.

He was recently given the Coventry Award of Merit for ‘outstanding service to the economic and cultural life of the city, including contribution to the development of the Coventry Building Society, The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry Cathedral Development Trust and, more recently, the Royal Shakespeare Company and to the Lord Lieutenancy of the West Midlands’.

Coventry's City of Culture 2021 rivals announced

Coventry’s race to be UK City of Culture is hotting up – after its rivals for the 2021 title were officially revealed.

The Coventry City of Culture Trust registered the city’s interest in bidding to the Department of Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) in February after more than a year’s work in preparing the ground for a bid.

The DCMS set a deadline of February 28 for cities to put themselves forward and now that deadline has passed, it has revealed that Hereford, Paisley, Perth, Portsmouth, St Davids, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Warrington and Wells will be moving forward with a bid.

An initial bid must be submitted by April 28 before shortlisting takes place in May/June of this year. Full and final submissions will be required from shortlisted cities by September 29.

The final decision on who is UK City of Culture 2021 will be announced in December.

Flags signalling Coventry's intent to become City of Culture put up in Broadgate



COVENTRY is flying the flag to be crowned UK City of Culture in 2021.

Ten flags have been erected in Broadgate to highlight the city’s drive to clinch the title after the competition was opened by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport two weeks ago.

The flags show a selection of artists and cultural organisations from across the city, and organisers of the city’s bid to be named City of Culture hope they will help build on the support they have already received.

David Burbidge, chair of Coventry City of Culture Trust, said: “We want people to be reminded about the bid as often as possible and the flags in Broadgate are a great way of doing that in the city centre.

“We want people to know about the bid, understand the full benefits it would bring to Coventry – socially, culturally and economically – and to show their support on social media.

“Being UK City of Culture in 2021 would be a huge boost to Coventry – you only have to look at what’s happening in Hull already this year to see what it could help our city to achieve.”

Coventry City Council, The University of Warwick, and Coventry University are principal partners of the bid and are providing significant support.

City of Culture win 'worth £1bn to Coventry'



Coventry could benefit from a windfall in excess of a billion pounds if its bid to become UK City of Culture is successful.

That is the figure the man leading Coventry’s bid to land the coveted accolade in 2021 estimates will be the economic uplift to the city.

David Burbidge, who heads-up the Coventry City of Culture Trust, has revealed the economic benefit to the city looks set to be considerably more than was originally thought.

The revised 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 but now that estimate has been revised upwards.

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 forecast 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.”