The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) project ‘Tale of the Cities: the best of times?’ was compiled after the BCC invited chambers including Sheffield, Liverpool, Nottingham and Newcastle as well as Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow, to submit their own city’s chapter for the publication.

As well as authoring a chapter in consultation with Sheffield City Council and other regional partners, Sheffield Chamber was also selected as one of a handful of key chambers to launch the BCC report, joining Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds in hosting its own city reception.

The report compares economic development in UK cities and makes recommendations on factors required for further progress, such as strong leadership and business engagement. The Sheffield launch event, held at the Leopold Hotel, saw invited guests addressed by BCC chief executive David Frost, Chamber President Richard Wright and Deputy Leader of Sheffield City Council, Steve Jones.

The BCC authored the report’s introduction and conclusion and oversaw the Tale of the Cities project which calls for businesses to be partners in city regeneration strategies.

BCC chief executive David Frost said: “Partnership working is essential and a formal role is needed for chambers, which are already seen as the partner of choice for most city councils. A formal business engagement role would strengthen this across the board.”

The Sheffield chapter details how the city has built on its traditional manufacturing base to embrace new sectors such as the creative and digital industries and references the foundations of Sheffield One and Sheffield First for Investment, key forces behind the establishment of Creative Sheffield.

Regeneration of the city centre, rising employment levels, the significant contribution of the city’s two universities and the ongoing importance of manufacturing to the city are also credited.

Chamber policy and representation manager Helen Rana said: “To be invited to submit our view of how Sheffield is transforming itself was a profile-raising boost for the city as well as a strong indication of how far we have come. But to also be able to help launch the publication really underlines the key role the city has played in this national report.”