Sheffield wins global award for Place Brand of the Year
Sheffield has received a prestigious industry award at a significant place marketing event, having been shortlisted alongside destinations and places from across the world.
Sheffield's dedicated destination marketing organisation and part of Sheffield City Council, the Marketing Sheffield team took home the award for 'Place Brand of the Year' for Sheffield Inspires at the 11th City Nation Place Awards (CNP Awards), earlier this month.
Recognising the organisations who are setting the standard for excellence in place branding and place marketing, the CNP Awards took place as part of City Nation Place Global, a conference that gathers cities, nations and regions that are building a clear, credible, and inspiring story that attracts people, business, and investment.
With more than 180 entry submissions from 28 countries, the competition for each of the ten categories was fierce and were judged by an international panel of place leaders.
The jury were unanimous in recognising the passion of the small Marketing Sheffield team and the value of the work they are delivering with their community.
The City Nation Place judges were particularly impressed by the growth in collaborative partnerships in the city, turbo-charged by the positive response to and pride in the evolved design identity of Sheffield Inspires.
Representatives from Marketing Sheffield, Mark Mobbs and Kate Reveley, were in attendance for the CNP Global conference and delighted to accept the award on behalf of the team.
The award marks a huge moment for the Marketing Sheffield team and for Sheffield as a city, especially as Sheffield Inspires isn’t even a year old, having only launched back in March of this year.
In their official feedback, the City Nation Place judges said: “The jury were unanimous in recognising the passion of the small Marketing Sheffield team and the value of the work they are delivering with their community.
"Our judges were particularly impressed by the growth in collaborative partnerships in the city, turbo-charged by the positive response to and pride in the evolved design identity."
Expanding on this further, Clare Dewhirst, Director of City Nation Place, said: “A great place brand strategy requires ongoing commitment, passion, and perseverance. It can be a thankless task which often isn’t well-recognised, which is why it is such a privilege to take a moment to celebrate those who are successfully connecting the dots between what makes a place attractive for residents, visitors, and the private sector to ensure that their communities thrive.”
“We’ve seen Marketing Sheffield continue to grow with every new initiative, setting a benchmark for how great place branding can be delivered even on smaller budgets.
"The passion, determination, and hard work of this team is evident, and every initiative feels rooted in Sheffield’s DNA and the clearly focused priorities are delivering results in improving perceptions of the city, nationally, and internationally.”
Clare Dewhirst, Director of City Nation Place:
"The passion, determination, and hard work of this team is evident, and every initiative feels rooted in Sheffield’s DNA and the clearly focused priorities are delivering results in improving perceptions of the city, nationally, and internationally"
What is Sheffield Inspires?
Launched in March 2025, 'Sheffield Inspires’ is a new creative and unified way of talking about our city, and forms the brand positioning and proposition for the city of Sheffield, UK.
It highlights the impact our city has had at a global level – how what has happened in Sheffield over the years and continues to happen here, inspires changes in the world elsewhere.
It has been developed working alongside partners across Sheffield, including academic institutions, key organisations and industry leaders
From football to electronic music and health tech to greener cities, the city has some really inspirational stories to tell and we want more to people to know them.
Sheffield Inspires launched visually as a place brand with a creative commission video, that was shared across social media while static art from the video was installed in key locations across the city. Since launching the brand has been used at numerous prestigious international events such as UKREIIF and The Meetings Show.
The next stay of storytelling is now underway, as each founding theme for Sheffield inspires will be brought to life in documentary form over coming months. You can find out more on the dedicated Sheffield Inspires webpage here.
Sheffield Inspires launch - creative commission video
‘Sheffield Inspires’ was launched with a deliberately eye-catching and disruptive creative commission that united three notable Sheffield creatives, using graphic art created by Rob Lee, animation by Andy Robinson and music by 96 Back.
Using the brand colours, the animations mesmerize as they unfold and interweave into visual representations of the 7 founding inspirational stories of Sheffield Inspires.
More info
Sheffield shortlisted for three international placemaking awards
The city has been shortlisted for three major placemaking accolades at this year's City Nation Place Awards. The transformation of a massive part of Sheffield City Centre is in the running, alongside the city’s recent brand development work, pitting Sheffield against an impressive list of other places from around the world.
Inspires
This is not just a place you visit - it's a city you become a part of, that becomes a part of you. Even if you've never been here. Sheffield Inspires. Always has. Always will.
How Sheffield Inspires was created
The people, agencies, creatives, and the process involved to create Inspires for the city.
The craft of beer
The spirit of independent brewing in this nation has been shaped by Sheffield, inspiring a movement that has given us one of the best reputations in the world, for a sector that is also worth £1.8 billion to the UK.
Greener cities
Our outdoor city is inspiring other major cities across the world, in the inclusion and development of outdoors as part of their identities, while also striving to solve climate, sustainability and nature challenges faced by the world.
Evolution of electronic music
The global electronic music scene was valued at $11.8b in 2023, projected to rise to $24.5 by 2032. The influence of electronic music on popular culture in the UK has been well documented to have been inspired by Sheffield in the late 70s and early 80s, and still today Sheffield artists, performers, producers and festivals are at the forefront of pioneering how the industry develops and people hear new sounds and have unforgettable experiences.
The art of climbing
Sheffield inspires the development of one of the fastest growing sports in the world. From the roots of UK rock climbing in the 1880s, through to creating the routes for the inaugural climbing event at the Olympic Games 2020. We are 'home' for the originators of the sport, current Team GB Climbing athletes, designers and manufacturers, making us the Climbing Capital of the UK.
The capital of modern manufacturing
The Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMID) spans the border of Sheffield and neighbouring town of Rotherham, and was the first of it's kind in the UK. This 2,000 acre, already decade-old cluster of inventiveness, alongside the world-leading heavy industry and engineering expertise still present in the city, inspires and powers the future of a £200 billion sector in the UK alone.
A global health tech revolution
Just as we were (and still are) a trailblazer in industry and modern manufacturing, shaping how the world makes products, Sheffield is now also doing the same in the world of health tech - especially for young people.
The beautiful game
The Sheffield Rules inspired the modern game, the World's First Football Club is still here, along with the World's Oldest Ground, and the World's Oldest Cup Match. It's certainly no overstatement to say that Sheffield helped shape the most popular sport in the world as we know it today.
