A YEAR ago developer Westfield announced there was no going back on its plans for a new shopping centre in Bradford city centre.

The company had signed legal agreements which meant it had to build the £260 million development and said work was due to start in 2014.

It marked the end of years of uncertainty about the future of the Broadway site which had stood empty for years after the company failed to complete the build by 2007, as it originally pledged when it acquired the site in 2004.

Some had questioned if the prime site would ever be developed or be left to mothball and part of it was even turned over to create a temporary park called the Urban Garden.

Twelve months on, it was unrecognisable as 360 people a day work to transform the skyline.

And there is a feeling it has helped changed Bradford's whole reputation as well.

Bradford Council leader David Green said: "I think that the start of work on Westfield has changed the perception of the city centre in the sense that before people kept going on about 'The Hole' and what we've done by setting it up, getting started on site, is to change that so now people are getting excited about the opening.

"But that's only one piece of the jigsaw, as I continually say and bore people to death with, is that everything that we've done with the Growth Zone [business grants], improvements in marketing and the growth in confidence that people have been seeing in terms of investors, has helped the start of the turnaround of the city centre."

He said new businesses moving to the city centre cited Westfield as part of the reason, but it was not the only draw.

Bradford Chamber of Commerce policy and representation executive Mike Cartwright said the work starting on Westfield had affected the whole Bradford district as well as the business community.

"For a start, it came as a relief when work finally got under way. It has also brought more buoyancy into the city, creating a feel good factor at the same time as we began to emerge out of the recession, a kind of double-bonus.

"It has also caused people beyond the city boundaries - potential investors etcetera - to look more closely at Bradford to see what else is happening.

"Bradford’s regeneration is a long-term project and one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but Westfield is a key part as we all know. Business confidence is enhanced by the scheme as we know the city centre will get more visitors, shoppers and tourists."

A spokesman for Westfield said centre would act as "a major stimulus to the local and regional economy".

"The new retailer sign-ups this year demonstrate the extent of interest in the scheme and a real confidence in Bradford as a viable and worthwhile city for business and investment," he said.

Bradford Chamber of Trade secretary Val Summerscales agree Westfield was having a positive impact on Bradford and she thought it would support, rather than compete with, the city centre.

"It's not just the new businesses that are signing up for Westfield, it's other new businesses that are coming into the city centre on the back of Westfield and the Growth Zone - that's playing a big part in attracting new business into the central area," she said.

"I think people have been absolutely surprised by how fast it's going up. I went to the topping-out ceremony in November and obviously it's just the bare bones, but they expect to be knocking on in the new year and fitting out for the new stores and opening by next Christmas.

"I think it surprised everybody who went just how large its floorspace is inside."

Next year the glazed roof over the mall will be completed and work to improve roads and access to the shopping centre will continue.

"We’ve certainly come a long way since the start of the year and celebrated a number of major construction milestones, including topping out, where the building reached its highest point," said the Westfield spokesman.

"We would not, of course, have reached this stage without the dedication from all those who work on the site. It’s testament to their hard work that we can finish the year with the centre well on its way to completion."

Cllr Green said: "I get a feeling of job done to an extend in the sense that Westfield, but knowing that we've still got a lot more to do and that we've got a lot more in the pipeline that we will beginning to deliver next year."

But he would not be drawn on what those plans were adding that they would be announced when the Council was ready.