Philiip Pettit

Last year saw it taking on the mantle of UK City of Culture and drawing three-and-a-half million visitors in the process; the musical programme included hosting the likes of Katy Perry, Kings of Leon and Lorde at Radio 1’s Big Weekend. By the end of 2017, more than three thousand events had generated in excess of £60m for the local economy, which is some going for a town that, since Philip Larkin died, has had precious little to shout about in terms of entertainment exports, with the obvious exception of that on-the-pitch team talk that Phil Brown gave at half-time against Manchester City back in 2008.