There are plenty of Sheffield locations to spot in this advert from This is England director Shane Meadows and Warp films. Keep your eye out for – I think – High storrs road, Ecclesall parish hall, the hardware shop at Bents green shops and Bingham park.

Robinsons have also uploaded making-of video, which they say was made by the children in the advert:

How do you go about selling a city like Sheffield? Although we are perhaps behind other cities in being the kind of place someone might choose to spend the weekend, leisure tourism is no doubt becoming increasingly important.

In the last few years I’ve been vaguely aware of some limited attempts as position the city a place to visit, but it seems like this hasn’t been a priority.

The Leopold hotel recently highlighted two articles in the Times and the Manchester evening news where Sheffield came out favourably as a weekend destination, so hopefully this shows that the potential is there and we do have something to offer visitors.

I decided to put a few questions to Wendy Ulyett, tourism manager for welcometosheffield.co.uk to find out where we are at in terms of marketing Sheffield as a leisure destination and what the plans are for the future.

Tell us a bit about Yorkshire South and your role.

Hmm… have been thinking about a short succinct answer to this and have failed miserably so here’s the long version! Yorkshire South Tourism was set up about three years ago in conjunction with the four local authorities in South Yorkshire and Yorkshire Forward (more recently via Welcome to Yorkshire) to act as a ‘destination marketing organisation’.

Latterly, because of changes to funding structures and because of Sheffield wanting to ensure that they city has a clear identity within the tourism market, the tourism team which were seconded to Yorkshire South Tourism have returned to a Sheffield-specific role, and will form an integral part of the new Marketing Sheffield structure.

This might all sound a bit confusing but be assured it’s a really positive move for Sheffield. Tourism is higher up the political agenda – both locally and regionally with the new LEP structures and city tourism is high on the agenda for the Government-funded agency, Visit Britain.

The role of the tourism team within Marketing Sheffield is to facilitate routes to market for the great tourism product Sheffield can offer. Conference and meeting space, quality hotels, major events (sports, music, theatre, exhibitions), galleries and museums all add to Sheffield’s overall offer. They are all integral to the visitor experience – for instance, delegates seeing a modern city when they come to a conference are 70% likely to return as a leisure visitor.

Do you have research about what people who don’t know Sheffield think of it? If so, what does it say?

The regional tourism agency, Welcome to Yorkshire, manages and annual visitor survey which is taken within Sheffield but at the moment, we don’t have any perceptions research which would cover those people who aren’t familiar with Sheffield.

Anecdotally, we would expect it to say either ‘Sheffield – northern industrial city, grey, dirty and in need of investment’ (which is a perception we clearly need to tackle, although not purely from a tourism perspective) or ‘Sheffield – don’t know anything about the place’ (which is actually an easier issue to tackle!)

What we do know from the visitor research is that for more than 90% of visitors Sheffield exceeds their expectations and that 97% of visitors would recommend Sheffield to their friends as a great place to visit.

Is Sheffield an easy city to sell? In terms of tourism, which other destinations are our competitors and how are we different?

It’s much easier to sell Sheffield than it was 20 years ago. With all of the investment that has been made – from both public sector and the private sector – the city is now a great destination, and that makes it much easier. I’ve already mentioned perceptions, and getting over these is the hardest part. Once people start to learn more about Sheffield it sells itself!

It has to be said that our local residents are amongst our best ambassadors but at the same time, they don’t always talk positively about the city, to outsiders.

I can understand local residents having a gripe about the daily grind of life, and that sometimes the public services they encounter don’t always meet their expectations. But I’d really love it if we could get residents to hold their heads up high and, when they are talking to people from outside of Sheffield, talk about the great things, the big changes, the fantastic venues, the great location, that (as local residents) we sometimes take for granted.

Competitor cities – well, geographically we’re competing with Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham – all relatively centrally located. In real terms, we’re competing with more than just other ‘cities’ – we’re competing against ‘experiences’. The choice journey we make when planning a short break is often led more by what we want to do/see – the experiences we’ll have, with the location of where we might see it/do it a secondary factor.

Because Sheffield has such an wide appeal – events, live music, indulgent experiences such as spas and golf, outdoor and extreme sports, there are actually few cities who are direct competitors because there are so few cities that can offer such a range of experiences.

In terms of business tourism – conferences etc, then our competitors are less obvious than perhaps might be first thought of. Cities like Newcastle (similar sized meeting/conference venues, similar number of hotel rooms etc) are more directly our competitors than cities such as Leeds and Manchester.

Where is Sheffield now in terms of being a tourist destination and where do you want it to be? Do you have actual targets in terms of numbers of visitors that you can share?

It depends on which data you look at. The aspiration is that Sheffield is in the top five cities in England to visit. We’re about seven places below where we’d like to be. Our success will be measured in percentage terms – we’ve been working on a 5% year-on-year growth target (this is in line with the regional requirements).

I’m guessing welcometosheffield.co.uk and yorkshiresouth.com are part of Sheffield’s tourism campaign. Can you summarise what else is in your strategy to enable you to achieve your targets?

yorkshiresouth.com will soon be subsumed into the welcometosheffield.co.uk web site. The website is becoming the key website for the city (within the new Marketing Sheffield strategy, there are three key strands identified:

• talent (focused on the universities and retention of key graduate skills)
• trade (focused on investment and business growth)
• tourism

The tourism-related pages within the site form the primary call to action for all of our activity. The strategy is still being developed but key elements will be PR-led marketing rather than media-placed advertisements; strategic partnerships with Welcome to Yorkshire and the Peak District, both of which have established marketing campaigns to national and international audiences; and social media activity.

Some people in Sheffield say that the best bits of the city are off the radar and aren’t the sort of thing you can easily package up as part of a big marketing drive. Do you think that any push to sell the city should try to reflect its full breadth and diversity – and if so how do you ensure this is captured as part of your campaign?

Some of the best bits of the city are the less obvious ones, I’d agree with that, but we can turn that into a key strength – hidden gems, the element of discovery and surprise all add to a memorable experience. Our other target is to ensure we offer some golden ticket opportunities so that we can capitalize on the PR that will bring – online offers that are provide a unique element, an experience that money can’t buy; PR stories that are quirky – which is often what some of the off the radar things are anyway usually grab the media’s attention.

We’ll capture some of this through ‘insider ideas’-type features; personal endorsements; top ten things to see. Not taking this quite as far as the new ‘bucket list’ concept but again, targeting a particular audience, or lifestyle publication etc.

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So it seems that the city’s approach to marketing itself as a tourist destination, and more widely in the areas of trade and talent, may now step up a gear as they are taken more seriously as strategic priorities.

What do you think? How would you market Sheffield? Are they going about this the right way? Do we, as residents, have a role t play? And can we compete with other cities and experiences in terms of attracting tourists?

Charity unleashed voucher book 2010-11

New book announced

The 2010-11 Charity unleashed voucher book will soon be for sale via the Charity unleashed website, ready for dispatch in late August.

New offers this year include a night at the Maynard, City limits dancing, football tickets for Wednesday and United, Mish mash restaurant plus there are repeat offers from the previous voucher book.

The price is once again £50 and this year they appear to be supporting Weston park cancer charity and Hallam FM’s Cash for kids appeal. It isn’t clear from the website what percentage of the cost of each book goes to charity.

Generally my experience redeeming last year’s vouchers was pretty good, although not everything seemed to go to plan. Lounge bar and 360 stopped accepting vouchers after a change of owners, the photography course offer was postponed due to a burglary, and both Dosanj and Aroma Indian restaurants have since closed down.

Last month the company running the voucher book scheme posted an entry on their blog highlighting what they learnt from the 2009-10 book, so hopefully some of the difficulties encountered will be avoided this time round.

2010-11 Charity unleashed voucher book

Too many parties flyer

Club pony poster retrospective opening on Thursday

Archipelago works is hosting an exhibition of Club pony posters from 2006 to 2010 by Robin Beck.

Even if you haven’t been to one of the Club pony nights (usually at DQ nightclub in town), you may have seen the artwork on posters around the city centre.

A bespoke poster has been designed to promote each Club pony party since 2006 and these have now been collected together for Too many parties exhibition.

It opens on Thursday 10 June and you’ll also be able to buy limited edition prints of each design.

Club pony Too many parties exhibition opening party (Facebook event)

Another event is taking place next week to further shape Sheffield’s bid to become the first UK City of culture in 2013:

The team behind Sheffield’s UK City of Culture bid need your help. They want to get ideas from as many people as possible to create an unbeatable bid. Come and have your say on Friday 16 April from 8am to 8pm. This is an informal event with lots of ways to share your ideas for Sheffield City of Culture 2013. It will be held in the City Centre at The Circle, 33 Rockingham Lane, S1 4FW (just of West Street and Division Street). There’s no need to book a place, simply turn up on the day. All are welcome.

In a previous post I mentioned how crucial it was for our bid to include the full breadth of Sheffield culture, not just our flagship offerings. This looks like a chance for smaller arts groups, communities, event organisers, promoters and other local cultural organisations to ensure they are represented and their ideas are built into the bid.

More details are at www.sheffieldcityofculture.com.

Here are this month’s additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on  Twitter. The full directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page.

There is also a Twitter list of people and organisations in Sheffield in Twitter.

BBC South Yorkshire news
@BBCSY

North west Sheffield news blog
@nwsheffield

Hantu collective – illustration-based clothing label
@HantuCollective

Arcade – shop in Forum
@ilovethearcade

City of sanctuary – a movement to build a culture of hospitality for people seeking sanctuary in the UK
@CityofSanctuary

Rutland arms – pub
@rutlandarms

Stock room – music venue
@thestockroom

Thee Sheffield photographic corporation – record label
@theespc

Lovebytes – digital art and creativity
@lovebytes

Platillos restaurant/bar
@platillos_sheff

Pictures of Sheffield – Facebook photography group
http://twitter.com/picturesofsheff

Sheffield is my planet – climate change campaign
@sheffismyplanet

Bromheads – band (formerly Bromheads jacket)
@bromheads

Sheffield five-a-side – attempt to break football world record
@Sheffield5aside

Wildago – artist
@wildago

Paul Bell music – singer/songwriter
@paulbellmusic

Boiler room – digital agency
@boilerroomdig

Taptivate – iPhone app creators
@taptivate

Planet terror – record label
@ptrecs

Westside – magazine
@WestsideMag

Digital entrepreneurs – business support programme
@talkelectric

Murmur music
@murmurmusic

Sheffield rock – Sheffield music scene news
@SheffieldRock

Sheffield shop – shopping in town and Meadowhall
@sheffieldshop

Meadowhell – your very own shopping hell
@Meadowhell

High storrs school
@highstorrs

First point for business
@SheffBusiness

Vivid creative – agency
@Vivid_Creative

Danstyled – web design
@Danstyled

Endcliffe church
@endcliffechurch

Graves park
@GravesParkSheff

Birchenall howden ltd – information, communication, technology
@unravellingtech

Regional magazine company
@RegionalMagCo

Sheffield chamber of commerce and industry
@sheffchamber

20TwentyAerials – aerial installations
@20TwentyAerials

Northern lights – performing arts company
@N0RTHERN_LIGHTS

Alpharooms – Sheffield-based travel agent
@alpharooms

SYDataCentre – web hosting
@SYDataCentre

Sheffield walkers – walking group
@Sheffwalkers

Sheffield sci-fi group
@sheffsfgroup

NHS Sheffield
@NHS_Sheffield

Animat – electronic duo
@Animat_music

Happy caffeine – websites
@happycaffeine

Paul Walker – BBC Sheffield’s sports editor
@Walkerpw

Sunflour – cakes, pies and breads
@sunflourhelen

All that promotions – music and event promotion
@atpsheffield

Michael Harding – writer, producer, musician and DJ
@the_only_m

Holmes rentals – accommodation
@HolmesRentals

jessicaennis.net – updates from Jessica’s official site
@JessicaEnnisNet

New leaf salad – Sheffield university’s salad bar
@NewLeafSalad

Kowalski – band
@KowalskiUK

The 10p mixes – band
@the10pmixes

Creative exchange: South Yorkshire (CESY) and the Cube – projects of the Cultural industries quarter (CIQ) agency
@CESYandTheCube

Impact Sheffield – Sheffield university research
@IMPACTSheffield

Pipeten – managed host provider
@pipeten

Event catering
@CocoCatering

Little mischiefs – stuff for babies
@LittleMischiefs

Marmalade sun – band
@marmaladesun

BTCV enterprises
@BessemerHouse

uLetStudents – accommodation for students
@uLetStudents

Joe Whittaker – web design
@hellojoew

If you want to be listed on it then follow @sheffieldblog, get in touch or comment below.

Views from the seven hills of Sheffield and more are celebrated by the new Sheffield publicity department blog that promises to tell us about the things that make the place special:

We’re here to tell you about…the things that make Sheffield beautiful, and amazing, and unique. The hills, the people, the industry and the nature. The reasons we love the city. And what’s more, we’re going to show you how to find them. Maps to the best views. Guides to the most beautiful terraced streets. Postcards of the sunsets.

The view from Skye edge (‘as close as you’ll get to flying over Sheffield’) is first entry in the blog, where a red flag has been installed on the summit. I wonder if they’d get away with some guerrilla-style red plaques in the more urban locations?

They also provide printable maps so you know exactly where to find the free treasures.

I love this idea and look forward to seeing what things they come up with.

Sheffield publicity department

Here are this month’s additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on  Twitter. The full directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page.

There is also a new Twitter list of people and organisations in Sheffield in Twitter.

The chimney house – meeting venue and home of @93ft
@TheChimneyHouse

93ft – design agency
@93ft

BNI soaraways – business networking group (on Facebook too)
@BNIsoaraways

Intuitive functionality – creative design
@IfWorks

South Yorkshire filmmakers network
@syfn

Three source – specialist cutlery and crockery supplier
@3Source

Uncut project – church community
@uncutproject

Cornucopia radio show – writers and performers in Sheffield, who make radio shows, podcasts and live shows
@cornucopiaradio

Anjan Sarkar – illustrator
@sarkarsama

Everly pregnant brothers – Pete McKee‘s ukulele band
@NorthernUkeBros

Band together – Sheffield’s brand new centre for band musicians
@band_together

Whitley hall – hotel
@WhitleyHall

We love sleep – retailer of sleep products
@welovesleep

Flyshot promotions agency
@Flyshot

Momentum media – mobile marketing
@smssheffield

West one space – accommodation
@WestONEspace

IS property – estate agent
@isproperty

G casino – forthcoming casino
@GSheffield

If you want to be listed on it then follow @sheffieldblog, get in touch or comment below.

There is one more week to go before the voting closes for this year’s Eat Sheffield awards.

You can vote for your favourites here but be warned, you’ll need to fill in the form each time you cast a vote in each category. Hopefully they can make this a single form before the 2010 voting.

The awards are all part of the drive to raise the profile of Sheffield’s independent restaurants, which have improved a lot over the last few years but still have some way to go.

23 was the main winner in the 2008 awards. Which one deserves to take the top award this time?

Vote now in the 2009 Eat Sheffield restaurant awards