YP Comment: The city now reinventing itself

A proud city which was allowed to become a national symbol of decay and deprivation as traditional manufacturing industries ebbed away, it is now enjoying a resurgence after putting itself at the vanguard of the UK’s green energy revolution.

This has not happened overnight. It follows a concerted effort by the city’s political and business leaders to pull in the same direction – former deputy prime minister John Prescott never presented the most flattering image of Hull – and make a positive case for private sector employers to invest in East Yorkshire.

Having attracted Siemens, the significance of the proposed £200m Yorkshire Energy Park should not be under-estimated. On the eastern edge of the city, where job opportunities have previously been few and far between, the blue-chip companies looking to invest here are another vote of confidence in an area boosted still further by Hull’s year in the limelight as the UK City of Culture.

With every £1 invested in the proposed Energy Park likely to generate £3 for the local economy, Hull’s challenge now is to build on this momentum for the foreseeable future. It means redoubling existing efforts to improve the academic performance of schools while also making sure that road and rail links are commensurate with the ambitions of Hull, a city that is reinventing itself as a place where business and industry can thrive.