Bernard Ginns: Convention provided a Blessed relief from the hardships

During a downturn, decision-making becomes much more difficult, especially when there are livelihoods at stake.

The men and women running Yorkshire's businesses have had two long, hard years of this. It began with the mother of all financial crises, which developed into the longest recession on record before limping into this fitful stop-start recovery.

It's starting to show in the bags under eyes and greying temples.

That's why the Yorkshire International Business Convention came as such a relief to the region's business community. One senior executive I spoke to said he was happy just to get out of the office for a day. I believe him. Like many, his company has had some tough calls to make in recent months.

The convention gave him and 1,500 others the chance to have a breather, get some perspective and hear about how other people have dealt with challenging situations.

Numbers were down on last year, but this year's event was better. Why? It was more uplifting and entertaining and in Brian Blessed the organisers struck gold.

Here was a speaker who had the power to inspire with his great booming voice, powerful stage presence and uproarious good humour. I spoke with him before his star turn (see page five for the full report) and it was quite unlike any interview I have done.

It started quite normally. Visiting Yorkshire is like coming home for Mr Blessed, who is 73. He was born just down the road in Mexborough. His father was a miner.

Half an hour before taking to the stage, Mr Blessed told me he never knows what he is going to talk about. "I sense the audience," he said.

He is enthusiastic about the possibilities offered by space travel and has joined the space programme after undergoing 300 hours of training.

"We are the children of stardust," he said. "We don't just belong here." You don't hear many Yorkshire businessmen saying that, I can tell you.

"We are very tame now as explorers," he said.

Compared to most of us, he's right. He's had three attempts at reaching the summit of Everest and is the oldest man to walk to the magnetic North Pole.

I told him the conference hall was full of Yorkshire business people who have been grappling a recession since 2008. Did he have a message for them?

"To be bold and explore and open up," said Mr Blessed. "We are going to make it. Business people will become explorers. They are explorers and artists and will boldly go forward."

Sensing that this was a man in the mood for tackling big questions, I asked him if he knew what was the secret of life. "Love," he said. "Love of adventure.

"The greatest danger in life is not taking the adventure."

Not a message you often hear at a luncheon with accountants. Shortly after the interview ended, Mr Blessed bounded on to stage to the turbocharged rock of Queen's Flash and proceeded to deliver the funniest and most inspiring performance I have seen in ages.

Worth the price of the ticket alone.

TERRY Hodgkinson, the outgoing chairman of Yorkshire Forward, took to the stage at the Yorkshire International Business Convention to urge the audience of business leaders to tell the government what kind of support they want from the public sector.

The agency has spent more than 2bn in the region since its inception.

Some will have been well spent; some less so. But I do think that businesses should take the time to write to Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, if they want their views to be taken into account.

Do they believe in taxpayer-funded business support? If so, what shape should it be and how much should it cost? Should the public pay for an organisation to improve communication between businesses and local authorities?

Can we afford to pay for an agency to take a strategic view of the economic development of the region as opposed to a market-led approach?

All questions that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will be trying to address at the moment, with ever-increasing pressure from its paymasters at the Treasury.

I'm told a decision is imminent on the appointment of a new chairman at Yorkshire Forward. Whoever gets the job – it's a toss-up between banker Chris Pilling and manufacturer Barry Dodd – will certainly have their work cut out.