Bernard Ginns: Crucial time as city has golden chance to climb league

WHICH cities of Europe will be the major economic players of this new decade?

If you consult the experts, Munich, Paris, Stockholm, Oslo, Luxembourg City, Moscow, Helsinki, London, Stuttgart, Gothenburg, Utrecht, Zurich, Vienna, Bern, Mannheim, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Brussels and Frankfurt are the forces to be reckoned with.

These destinations make up the top 20 of Lasalle Investment Management's annual European Regional Economic Growth Index 2009, which looks at economic growth, wealth and business operating environment.

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Glancing through the list, you have to scroll down quite some way before finding the entry for Leeds at a lowly 60, sandwiched between the Ruhr region of Germany and Cardiff and languishing some way behind Bristol, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Nottingham and Manchester.

Three months into a new decade, Leeds finds itself at a turning point. It has a genuine opportunity to boost its position in the European league tables and add its name to the list of contenders.

Alternatively, it could continue to be eclipsed by national and international rivals.

Its future success will depend on the city working harder with the business community to create the right environment for economic growth, inward investment and wealth creation.

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A big part of this will be the appointment of the new chief executive of Leeds City Council.

Paul Rogerson, the present incumbent who has been in the post since 1999, is due to leave this summer, although a date is yet to be set.

As I understand it, the council has arrived at a shortlist of three names. According to my sources, two are from outside the region, one from Wiltshire and the other from London, while the third candidate is from this region.

There are some concerns in the business community at the prospect of an appointment from outside Yorkshire.

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"Business leaders want someone who can hit the ground running at a difficult time," said one of my sources yesterday. "They don't want someone coming in and having to do the rounds getting to know everyone.

"They don't want someone coming in with a learning curve with so many difficult decisions being made. The city needs someone who can hit the ground running and who is respected by people.

"It's time to make something happen for Leeds. Manchester is streets ahead.

"This is such a golden opportunity for us."

I would have to agree. The city has wonderful potential, but l fear some of this is slipping away.

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The city has to make the right decision, or live with the consequences.

Staying with the theme of appointments, the search to find the next chairman of Yorkshire Forward has reached its final stages. I understand that two names have been sent up to government for the final decision, as is the protocol with these things.

According to my sources, the two names belong to Barry Dodd and Chris Pilling. Mr Dodd is the chairman of GSM Group, a manufacturer of industrial graphics products, and has experience of the RDA as a board member and as chairman of CO2 Sense Yorkshire, a wholly owned subsidiary.

Mr Pilling is a senior executive at HSBC and the former chief executive of First Direct.

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He joined the bank from Asda in 2006 after spending much of his career at Procter & Gamble.

Both impressive candidates, I'm sure. There is some anxiety though over what happens next. No-one seems to know when the government will announce its preferred candidate as chairman.

I'll bet Yorkshire Forward would welcome an announcement before the general election as this would help with forward planning the region's economic recovery from recession.

Without an announcement, the RDA would be left with a large dollop of uncertainty and less able perhaps to properly plan a coherent strategy for Yorkshire.

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As Tory leader David Cameron made clear at the Yorkshire Post's question time event last week, a Conservative government would not abolish Yorkshire Forward unless local authorities and businesses lobbied for this to happen.

But a change of government would undoubtedly slow down the process and could create a vacuum in the place where the region's economic planning is conceived.

Let's have an announcement soon please.

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