The Yorkshire Film Archive collects, preserves, and shows film made in, or about Yorkshire. Our collections are non-fiction, dating from the 1890s to the present day, and providing a rich and visually compelling record of all aspects of lives, cultures, landscape, industries, major events and everyday activities, many of which are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
This film is part of Free
Your Move Next
This endearingly stilted glamorisation of Sheffield, debunking popular stereotypes, “like the inside of a chimney", paints a vivid picture of the city at the onset of the 1980s.
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Overview
As Sheffield’s steel and engineering industry goes into decline, Sheffield City Council seek to persuade businesses from down south to relocate to this green and friendly city, using all the incentives at its command. Highlighting all that is best about the city – the surrounding countryside, the transport, the Crucible Theatre, the University – the film shows Sheffield at a pivotal transitional period in its history.
With the dramatic changes to the economy during the Thatcher years, David Blunket, the Leader of the City Council at the time, in his effort to attract business, was perhaps preparing himself for his future role as Employment Minister. A similar film with the same title was made in 1965 by the GLC, which also sought to encourage people and business to relocate out of London, only this time just to the suburbs. The makers of this film, Martin Harris and David Rea, also worked together on another City Council promotional film, Free for All (1976). The claim that Sheffield only had one stoppage in 30 years – presumably the recent 13 week steel strike – ignores numerous strikes and occupations that in fact occurred.
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