A business event is to be held on Monday to further promote Bradford's chances of becoming Capital of Culture 2008.

The event, which is being held at The National Museum of Film and Photography, takes place between 12.30 and 3pm.

Speakers at the business lunch include Eddie Friel, the man behind Glasgow's successful Capital of Culture bid in 1990, Lord David Puttnam, chairman of Bradford's partnership board, Ian Stewart, chief executive of Bradford Council, and Harry Gration, the BBC Look North presenter.

Film guru Lord David Puttnam, the one-time film producer - whose film Chariots of Fire scooped an Oscar for best movie - heads up the partnership board which is preparing the district's bid for culture status in 2008, the shortlist for which is drawn up in the autumn.

Lord Puttnam, whose many successful films also include Killing Fields, Local Hero and Midnight Express, is currently chairman of Bradford's National Museum of Photography, Film and Television and chairman of the General Teaching Council of England.

The only Englishman to run a Hollywood studio, Lord Puttnam said he was inspired into promoting the bid by the fact that Bradford's bid included major input from its people.

Lord Puttnam said: "I am very fond of Bradford, it is a remarkable place steeped in its own culture and heritage.

"Bradford is up against some tough competition from a range of other ambitious cities, but what most encourages me is that the bid is being built around the imagination and energy of so many people from right across this extraordinarily diverse district."