Businesses urged to have a say

THE team behind the new Yorkshire Enterprise Partnership are calling on businesses to "join the big conversation" and have their say on proposals to create a Yorkshire-wide organisation to help boost private sector productivity.

Businessman Barry Dodd is preparing to present the plans to a group of local authority leaders and chief executives who are preparing proposals of their own to set up local enterprise partnerships (LEPs).

The coalition government has invited local councils to submit proposals for LEPs by September 6 as it prepares to overhaul economic development activity in the UK.

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It is scrapping regional development agencies such as Yorkshire Forward and wants to promote local decision-making although some powers and responsibilities are being clawed back to Whitehall.

But a group of business people, led by Mr Dodd, is campaigning for Yorkshire to retain a voice of its own and have drawn up plans for a community interest company to represent the interests of Yorkshire at a national and international level.

Mr Dodd said the organisation would be responsible for promotion, including tourism and inward investment, innovation, to develop new business opportunities and harness the power of universities, finance, for business expansion and investor readiness, and intelligence, to identify opportunities.

The group is setting up two websites for businesses in Yorkshire to express their support and make suggestions of their own.

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These will be online within days and can be found at www.bigconversationyorkshire.org and www.yorkshirebusinessvoice.org

Backers of the Yorkshire Enterprise Partnership include Irwin Mitchell, Grant Thornton, Arup, CBI, IoD, EEF, Julian Smith MP and the Master Cutler.

Meanwhile, Finance Yorkshire, the new 90m fund for growing businesses, has named its fund managers.

NorthStar Equity Investors, NEL, EV and FSY will make loan and equity investments in start-ups, technology-based companies and growing SMEs on behalf of Finance Yorkshire.

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