Affectionately known as Leeds’ little sister or the ‘Merrie City’, Wakefield is now stepping out of the shadows of its Yorkshire neighbours to become a regional creative hub.
“We’re not competing, I think we’re punching above our weight and Wakefield is more and more on the map,” Julie Russell, service director of arts, culture and leisure at Wakefield Council and board member at Creative Wakefield, tells Prolific North.
After missing out on its City of Culture 2025 bid to Bradford, Wakefield pledged to celebrate a year of culture in 2024 anyway.
It’s a determined approach by the council, keen to showcase that the city has just as much to offer beyond its traditional roots, once home to pioneering creatives and sculptors like Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore.
“They were icons in terms of the culture of the UK. Creativity is in our DNA, it traces back through all that time and has inspired lots of people locally to take that career path. Equally, we’ve a few game-changers that have come along,” says Clare Elliott, service director of economic growth and skills at Wakefield Council.
Visiting Wakefield on a hot day in June, waves of frustrating train delays means the typical one-hour-and-a-bit journey from Manchester winds up being two and a half hours either waiting on a platform or a sweaty carriage instead.
Connectivity is usually a major selling point for many cities, especially Wakefield which boasts links to two major motorway junctions, but here it has its obstacles.
“Wakefield was always the gateway to West Yorkshire and we’ve remained the gateway. It’s why we have a lot of logistics in Wakefield but the problem with logistics is it’s low skilled work, we want high skilled work and creativity gives us that,” explains Russell.
Although Wakefield and Castleford performed above the UK average for skills, work-life balance and new businesses, the district was still trailing behind Sheffield and Leeds according to PwC’s 2023 Good Growth for Cities Index.
Tackling the aftermath of austerity cuts, grappling with the rhetoric around the government’s levelling up agenda, and dealing with declining retail and attracting the right businesses to Wakefield, are all challenges the council recognises.
Greeted by derelict shops dotted around the high street, it’s clear there’s some way to go but the council doesn’t shy away from its flaws.
“It’s really difficult when you just don’t have the funding. We’re facing huge budget challenges of capital funding but also on revenues. Even if we find the funding to develop the buildings, we’ve then got to find the funding to run it afterwards,” says Elliott.
Proudly born and raised in Wakefield, she’s now excited by the flurry of creative activity across the district.
“Being next to some really big successful cities, it’s both positive and a challenge because the advantage is Wakefield is well connected next to Leeds or Sheffield but there’s a lot of competition right on our doorstep.
“I think we’ve started to reverse that with all the big developments happening.”
Tileyard North
One of those developments is Tileyard North, a newly opened 135,000 sq ft hub for the creative industries, shaping up to be the biggest creative industry ‘destination’ outside of London. A short walk from the city centre, it’s next door to The Hepworth and its picturesque garden is filled with iconic sculptures, gleaming yellow yarrow and pale lilac geraniums in bloom.
