How local businesses can help Yorkshire's cities to thrive - Mark Burton

Through our conversations with local businesses across the UK, we’ve identified five ways Yorkshire firms can ensure our cities continue to unlock prosperity, helping reduce inequality and raise living standards for all.

A cluster is an area that becomes home to an industry and its supply chains – creating virtuous circles of skilled employment, which attract further investment, fostering innovation and prosperity. The Humber, for example, is now emerging as a centre for innovation in renewable energy and offshore wind technology.

Businesses should work to understand the unique strengths and characteristics of their region to capitalise on the power of these clusters. A skilled workforce is vital for a thriving city.

Business can play a critical role by committing to local investment, which gives local authorities and educational bodies the confidence to invest too.

That creates a positive feedback loop, fostering trust between the public and private sectors and, ultimately, benefitting the local area. There is a great example of this kind of collaboration happening at Hull University. The city is a major centre for renewables, and now the university has partnered with Siemens Gamesa, which oversees big wind turbine factories in the region, to offer the UK’s first offshore wind degree apprenticeships.

Students are learning in the university and working at the same time, which keeps talent working in the region. Faster and more efficient public transport enables more people to access high-productivity, high-paying employment.

Buses are still the most used form of public transport in the UK and there is a huge opportunity to rethink urban bus transport to make cities greener, more productive and less congested.

The Government’s National Bus Strategy, launched in 2021, identified 31 locations that will receive extra funding to improve bus services – including West Yorkshire. By collaborating with government on public transport and urban planning projects, businesses have an opportunity to play a key role in developing the infrastructure for Yorkshire’s city dwellers. For a thriving city, investment in digital infrastructure is now as vital as investment in public transport.

Authorities that work in partnership with private providers to build a digital infrastructure will create the thriving cities of the future. Leeds has shown the way here; its digital infrastructure was key to its successful bid for Channel 4’s headquarters, beating Birmingham and Manchester thanks to its city centre internet exchanges and hyper-fast broadband.

Mobile technology is also central to thriving cities, with 5G technology not just delivering better phone and internet connections, but also spawning new applications for mobile technology in business operations.

Partnerships between the public and private sectors are particularly important in housing, as a city’s prosperity can inadvertently overheat the housing market as growing demand pushes up prices.

But its notable that some of the UK’s fastest-growing and most innovative locations have much more affordable housing.

Balancing economic growth with housing affordability may require innovative approaches to finance, with a combination of public and private sector investment.

As the government decentralises power and works more directly with local partners, the public and private sectors can realise opportunities in a sustainable way across all Yorkshire’s urban centres.

Mark Burton is head of UK regions at Lloyds Bank