Local business driving support for Culture Bid

SUNDERLAND’s City of Culture Bid is hoping its on the road to success, after gaining the backing of yet another high profile supporter.

The Pulman Group, which has four garages across Sunderland and Durham, will be displaying three City of Culture branded cars, adorned with Sunderland 2021’s distinctive colours, in an effort to raise awareness of the city’s bid to scoop the crown in the hotly-anticipated competition.  

Strategically placed at Pulman’s showrooms, it is hoped the cars will attract attention and act as a conversation-starter, as the submission date for the bid draws ever closer.  

Chris Slater, Communications Manager at Pulman, said: “We are incredibly proud to be able to support the bid. Hundreds of people pass our showrooms every day, so we know that having a presence like this will increase visibility of the bid and hopefully get people excited about Sunderland 2021 and what it could mean for the city.   

“We have been in Sunderland for nearly ten years, and employ a lot of people from here, so we really do care about the city and would love to see it succeed – not only for the people of Sunderland, but for the whole region.  It is great – as a local business - to show our support for the bid and hopefully help with this final push before the first stage of the competition begins.”

He added: “The changes in Sunderland are already visible and there is so much investment being ploughed into the city. Anything we can do to further that progression can only be a good thing, and winning City of Culture 2021 would provide the impetus for more growth.”

The first stage of the bid is to be submitted on April 28, with the winner announced later in the year.

Sunderland is up against Coventry, Hereford, Paisley, Perth, Portsmouth, St Davids, Stoke, Swansea, Warrington and Wells, so every bit of support counts.

Rebecca Ball, director of Sunderland 2021, said: “This is a phenomenal display of support from Pulman Group and we are incredibly grateful to them for getting behind us and helping us to spread the word about this bid. Three branded cars showing Sunderland 2021’s colours is a sure-fire way to get noticed and will hopefully give us a final push before the bid is submitted this month.

“The competition is fierce and we have to demonstrate that we have a groundswell of support for our bid, not only locally, but regionally. Having local businesses showing such visible signs of support is of paramount importance and the more local businesses behind us, the more the judges will see just how much we all want this. It’s not too late to show your support.”

Winning City of Culture status could do wonders for Sunderland’s economy, as it can deliver a multi-million-pound boost for the successful city.  It is estimated that this year’s City of Culture, Hull, will see an extra £60 million to its economy. The city has already seen a £1 billion boost in investment since being announced as the winner of the title in 2013.