The regeneration of Bradford city centre - while a long time in coming - is there all around us for anyone to see.

The Broadway shopping centre is going up at a rate of knots, the North Parade area is thriving and work is continuing apace on the exciting new retail project in the tunnels beneath Sunbridge Road.

Part of the continued success of Bradford's city centre retail and leisure offer will be the work done by the City Centre Growth Zone initiative, which is funded jointly by Bradford Council and the Government and aims to make it easier for businesses to start up in the city centre.

The latest success story from the initiative is the planned opening of a new pizza restaurant in the burned-out shell of the former Natasha school uniform shop on Westgate.

This is a perfect use of the Growth Zone cash - not only creating a brand new city centre business but also bringing back into use a derelict building, in this case one that was wrecked by fire four years ago.

It is also heartening to see that the Growth Zone funds are benefitting the city centre as a whole. When a new development is built such as the Westfield shopping centre, there are natural fears that the shiny new complex will suck business away from other city centre areas.

With the new pizza restaurant being established in the heart of the Goitside Conservation Area, this proves that the city centre will not just be focused on Westfield - that development is hugely important, of course, but we also want to see the rest of the city centre grow and thrive. Let us hope there are many more new businesses waiting in the wings.