Major development: Michelle Poulter in the Bristol Alliance Office, Castlemead, overlooking Cabot Circus

Bristol Alliance - Cabot Circus
Winner of The Diversity Award

Harmony in diversity

ONE of the West Country’s biggest building sites has been the focus for a project aimed at bringing together music and food from around the world.

The musical aspect has involved people from almost 60 countries working on Cabot Circus , the £500 million shopping development which is being masterminded by Bristol Alliance in the heart of the city.

They were invited to contribute traditional songs from their native countries for a special composition called the Cabot Circus Cantata.

“No one was left out. Everyone from bulldozer drivers to builders, secretaries, foremen, security guards and canteen workers were included,” said Michelle Poulter, liaison manager for Bristol Alliance. “They were all invited to contribute traditional songs from their native countries”.

The songs were arranged for both soloists and the extended City of Bristol Choir to form the Cabot Circus Cantata – an hour-long musical celebration of this global community in the middle of Bristol.

The composition was the result of a collaboration between the artist-in-residence on the site, Neville Gabie, and composer and conductor David Ogden.

They spent three days among the cement mixers recording traditional songs which, earlier this month, were performed by the City of Bristol Choir, the Exultate Singers and the Ambling Band in St James Church in The Horsefair, a brick’s throw from Cabot Circus.

The performance was conducted by Mr Ogden with soloists from many of the featured countries.

“Many of the songs sung by the workers came from the heart. They are reminders of their homelands, of their friends and families back home and so were sung with great feeling and nostalgia,” said Mr Ogden.

The songs from Eastern Europe were particularly powerful, said Mr Ogden.

As work progresses on Cabot Circus the artist-in-residence says he will continue developing a wide programme of performance art and permanent works.

There are about 1,300 people working on Cabot Circus which, when completed next year, is forecast to push Bristol up the list of the UK’s best shopping destinations.

“By the end of the construction period we estimate that over 20,000 people will have worked on the site since the project began in 2005. Many of them will have come from countries around the world” said Ms Poulter.

“The internal fit-out of the retail units next year will bring a host of new positions including electricians, decorators, carpenters and specialist shop fit-out contractors

“To ensure inclusivity among the workers we have translated information about diversity initiatives into 15 different languages to cater for the needs of our diverse workforce.

These are the languages which have been identified as having the most understanding across the different nationalities at Cabot Circus .

The translations include recipe ideas submitted by the workers.

These will be included in the Cabot Circus Site Recipe Book due to be published before the development is completed.

A partnership has been developed with the Mud Dock cafe, which will be creating at least one meal a month from the recipes submitted.

These will be served to the workforce in the site canteen so everyone has an opportunity to taste another culture. and Bristol Alliance hopes the meals will also appear on Mud Dock’s menu.

“What are the two things that people from all countries have in common? It’s food and music,” said Ms Poulter.

“What better way, then, to bring people of all nationalities together than these two initiatives?”

It is initiatives such as these that have led to Bristol Alliance winning the diversity category in the
Evening Post Recruitment Awards 2007.

Cabot Circus will add more than 100 shops to the 300 already in Broadmead. Among the newcomers will be Harvey Nichols, Zara, Bershka and G-Star. Besides retail outlets there will be a 13-screen cinema able to seat 3,000 people, nearly two dozen restaurants and cafes, along with a hotel with 120 bedroom rooms. There will also be more than 250 residential units along with student accommodation and offices.