Vince Cable: Reinvented Yorkshire can rise to tackle challenges of today

The UK has been through a massive economic shock, and that it now faces a major challenge in achieving growth. The implications of that shock are being felt by all parts of the British economy and I know this will mean difficult decisions and painful consequences for many public sector employees in Yorkshire. But with public sector employment accounting for 29 per cent of all employment in the region, making publicly-funded job creation higher than any region except the West Midlands, the current position is simply not sustainable over the long term.

That said, Yorkshire is well placed to succeed and grow. A recent survey of business leaders in Yorkshire suggested many are planning to grow their organisations and create new jobs in 2011. They believe Yorkshire is still a good place to do business, in additional to a great place to visit, and I share their optimism.

I know that Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has ambitious plans to create a UK centre of excellence in advanced manufacturing, for example, and Government will work with LEP partners to help realise the potential in world leading growth sectors such as advanced engineering, low carbon and healthcare technologies.

There has also been a lot of interest in Yorkshire in the £1.4bn Regional Growth Fund and I hope businesses from the region can take advantage of it.

And while an over-reliance on banking has created problems for the UK economy, financial services more generally remain an important industry in Yorkshire. The Leeds city region has the largest UK concentration of financial and professional services outside London employing 240,000 people contributing over £13bn to the economy – and there is no reason why this sector cannot grow further.

Business priorities to support economic recovery and growth in Yorkshire are no different from the rest of the country: improving skills; access to finance; increasing export opportunities; reducing the burden of red tape.

Regarding skills, I’m pleased that even against the economic backdrop, the coalition has committed additional resources to fund a further 75,000 adult apprenticeships. We also want to change the way we value vocational qualifications so that a good quality apprenticeship has as much status and value as an academic degree.

Access to bank finance remains a thorny issue but one the Chancellor, George Osborne, and I are pursuing through our negotiations with the big banks. Some viable businesses – especially SMEs – are struggling to finance investment and expansion, and unblocking the flow of credit, and increasing the availability of debt and equity finance, is a priority.

Britain’s growth will be led by exports. The region’s strengths include food and drink, with Yorkshire firms already exporting beer to Ireland, biscuits to India, crisps to Singapore and, yes, tea to China. Yorkshire is also a major centre for tourism and tourism has had a boost from a more competitive exchange rate.

If growth is to be sustained, infrastructure has to be modernised. The Humber ports are the busiest in the UK accounting for around 16 per cent of UK seaborne trade. Its geography also makes it ideally placed to benefit from significant growth opportunities in offshore wind developments and renewable energies. The Government’s commitment to the High Speed Train project will speed up connections to the South.

I grew up in Yorkshire over half a century ago. Then the economy was based on woollens, Sheffield steel, coal mines and farming. No longer. Yorkshire has reinvented itself economically. I am optimistic that it will rise to today’s rather different challenges.