News / Dont hang about - Implement this report
Dont hang about - Implement this report
John Yeomans, Chair of york-england.com, Chair of York Professional Initiative and Senior Partner of Harrowell Shaftoe Solicitors responds to The Future York Group Report.
It is a fiercely competitive world. The movement of capital, companies, technologies, information, and people is global. Businesses have more choices than ever about where to direct their resources and assets, both within the UK and internationally. Other cities aren’t standing still, and to maintain the success and vitality of York neither must we.
By laying the foundations for our City to move forward and meet the challenges of this changing world The Future York Group Report is I believe the most significant event in York’s economic development since the launch of Science City York a decade ago.
Councillor Steve Galloway and The City of York Council are to be congratulated for taking the bold step of seeking a non- political independent report to identify the way forward. The Report’s Vision of doubling the size of the economy by 2026 is both ambitious and visionary, but eminently achievable. I strongly endorse the Report’s aspiration and recommendation to re-invigorate the Council’s partnerships with a view to the preparation of a Master Plan reflecting the Future York Vision.
The role of partner organisations like york-england.com, the inward investment board for York and North Yorkshire and the York Professional Initiative, who both provide partnership between the business community and the City of York Council will be crucial in the process of creating the recommended Master Plan to guide development and investment decisions.
The importance of inward investment for York’s future economic development must not be underestimated. By injecting new money and bringing new businesses into our region, inward investment has already been an important catalyst for change throughout the economy of York and North Yorkshire. It also has a crucial role to play in the future development of the City, not only by creating jobs in tomorrow’s industries but also by developing exciting potential throughout the local supply chain.
Over the last decade york-england.com has been instrumental in attracting over 130 companies to the region, directly creating nearly 3,500 jobs and an additional 10,000 supply chain jobs, making 13,500 jobs in total. In the last three years alone, the company has successfully helped 61 companies relocate to the region, converting opportunities into real jobs on the ground.
If economic growth potential is to be maximised it is imperative that the timely and effective development of brownfield sites and the improved transport infrastructure recommended in the Future York Vision report go hand-in-hand with a strategic and proactive drive to continue to boost inward investment and put York more firmly on the map for investors both here in the UK and overseas.
We need to focus our efforts on investments that play to our strengths. Those providing high skilled jobs in knowledge-based industries will be the main stay of our economy for decades to come. Creating an enterprise culture and raising skills levels by providing training and education for our young people is also critically important if our City is to remain competitive. We must ensure that we provide education and training schemes that successfully address skills needs within the York economy and engage with our young people to deliver the high level vocational skills needed to attract and retain business.
The work of the North Yorkshire Business and Education Partnership, Learning City York, the schools & employers will be critical to success.
We must also continue to build and strengthen our links with other local authorities across the region, to expand our business offering as a City and build our reputation as the gateway to North Yorkshire for the leisure, tourism & retail industries.
Retaining and supporting existing business is another crucially important factor. We must be constantly aware of their evolving needs to ensure that we continue to meet them. York already has a vibrant and growing economy, with successful businesses across a whole range of sectors from tourism, to bioscience, to IT & Digital to Creative, to logistics and food and drink, all of which we must take care to nurture whilst looking ahead to developing and expanding the City’s economic base for the future. Co-operation and discussion designed to create a supportive business environment as recommended by the Report is an essential role for the City Council to fulfil.
I am particularly pleased that the professional and financial sector is recognised as being a critical ingredient for growing a successful economy. A key recommendation of the Report is the call for the creation of an economy which ‘promotes financial and professional service activities’. This is absolutely right, and is a recommendation which reinforces the mission of YPI, whose members cover a full range of professional skills. YPI has been working for the last six years to promote York as a centre of excellence for business and professional services.
We look forward to working with the City Council, Yorkshire Forward and Leeds City Region to develop our sector of the York and Regional Economy.
Effective leadership from the City of York Council will be central to our ability to grasp the opportunity to secure the future economic success of our City. This won’t be easy in a City council with no overall majority, but over the coming months it is imperative that our local government leaders work closely together putting Party politics aside to ensure our City continues to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities of a changing world.
By taking on the role of leadership the City Council will be mindful of the need to grow and improve the economy of the City for the benefit of all its citizens. Ensuring the disparity of incomes is reduced not widened as a result of economic growth.
There are tough decisions ahead. Plans for economic growth often conflict with environmental, heritage and lifestyle concerns. However the political need for consensus must not cause the Master Plan to be watered down. Our politicians must be bold and the whole City must get behind the Council in its work offering total support.
If we are successful in the project it is my belief that York will once again become the great Northern European City that is its heritage with a world-class economy and cultural life.
