For me, the value of any lobbying body is to be found in the impact they have in the everyday lives of people and businesses on the ground.

Without tangible impacts, they serve no purpose. The primary function of NP11 is to lobby government. It can be an effective tool to do this, with regular communications to the Business Secretary, Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and other government ministers.

The four LEP chairs from Yorkshire and Tees Valley have been working hard to lobby government and the banks to address the gap in support for some small and micro businesses.

Intelligence gathered by our LEP colleagues and their partnership networks brings huge strength and specificity to this work. The release of the Bounce Back loans is a good response, yet there is so much more that needs to be done in this arena.

Between the Northern LEP chairs, collaboration is gaining momentum. With a move away from parochialism, we can increase our effectiveness against cross-cutting themes. We are stronger as 11 than as one.

However, the reality is that the big city powerhouses have an increased capacity to drive NP11 agendas. Yet nuance and specificity are vital when approaching global themes against rural and urban backdrops.

In order to remain relevant and purposeful, we must be prepared to lobby around the smaller numbers and not just seven-figure urban centred projects. We must do this even when the potential impact has a smaller reach

For North Yorkshire that is particularly important.

The City of York, a magnet for global visitors, and a city wide celebration of the best in small and micro B2C businesses, faces severe economic challenges as a result of the pandemic and resultant lockdown measures. All across our region, tourism and B2C sector businesses are in grave financial danger.

Hotels and bed and breakfasts, for example, continue to fall through the cracks in support. It’s a deeply concerning prospect for individuals and places across the region.

The fulcrum upon which our regional recovery will turn is the City of York. There are huge opportunities in innovation and bio-economy, with world leading assets. As a region we have a role to play of national significance when it comes to carbon capture and storage.

Locality will also be at the route of our recovery. Global supply chains will need to be superseded by local ones. Even in tourism, our route to market post-Covid, is local. Local will become a very important facet of our economy.

Shopping local will be essential in order to sustain our economy against future economic shocks. Specifically, Covid-19 will fundamentally change our food supply chains, generating a whole new economic base that revolves around localised consumer habits.

Resilient, local supply chains depend and benefit from multiple, smaller businesses. The NP11 could play a specific role that can greatly benefit micro businesses in this arena. For example, much of the policy around food production is designed for large businesses.

We will need to continue to campaign to change government’s attitude towards buying in the locality, particularly the Ministry of Defence, as we are dotted with key bases across our region.

In building of economic resilience across the north, NP11 can lend its big voice to the small man, ensuring that lobbying agendas have the breadth and depth to reach into rural areas and the complex issues that many micro businesses face.

I will personally continue to give voice to our rural businesses and those in the City of York. The post-Covid world will be incredibly different for our communities, businesses and workforce.

We need to remember the smallest parts that make up the whole as we rebuild the future of the Northern Powerhouse.

A focus on the local will get Yorkshire through this crisis - David Kerfoot