Keep Yorkshire on the world business map, Clegg urged

Kevin McCabe, whose international empire includes Sheffield United football club, will today urge Mr Clegg to seize the initiative and sell the region to China and the Far East when they meet an event in Sheffield.

In recent years, Mr McCabe has made significant advances in China, buying a football team and helping to broker a twinning deal between Sheffield and Chinese city Chengdu.

But speaking exclusively to the Yorkshire Post he revealed he has concerns the recession has been used as "an excuse" by councils and the Government, and added recent progress must be built upon and not wasted.

Mr McCabe, who was born and brought up in Sheffield, said he believed it vitally important that Mr Clegg, as a city MP, recognised the value of his support for regional business.

"I am a local lad, and I am proud of the city in which I was born. Over the last 15 years Sheffield and Yorkshire has been going through a massive process of regeneration.

"Although we are going through this mega downturn, we shouldn't be finding excuses because of this recession. We should be doing our best to work for this region and its residents."

Mr McCabe said Yorkshire had already suffered a series of blows, including the cancellation of an 80m loan to Sheffield Forgemasters and news of the abolition of Yorkshire Forward.

Both of those subjects are likely to be on the agenda when he meets Mr Clegg at the opening of new offices on Sheffield's Digital Campus development.

Mr McCabe, speaking before he flew back from Hong Kong, said the Forgemasters decision had been a "blow for the city" and called on people to move on.

But he warned that the loss of regional development agency Yorkshire Forward was a more serious consideration and added: "Yorkshire Forward have an office in China and they are recognised in China.

"Abolition can only be a negative. Internationally, everybody talks UK but only thinks London. We need support to get international investors to come and look at our cities.

"What I am really saying to Nick Clegg is that we have people in business who care but they need help to prosper. We don't want to suddenly fall off the world business map."

Mr McCabe dismissed suggestions that money was not available to fund further projects and said it was vital to ensure Yorkshire still presented a positive image to the world.

"I am very anxious that we don't lose the pace of regeneration. We already own Chengdu Blades football team and I honestly believe we can attract investment from China.

"But we need to build links with them. Other regions may not be doing it and we should be."

"The Government has only been in place a few months and doesn't yet have a real strategy. They need to work to ensure we don't lose our place, which has been hard earned."

Mr Clegg is likely to receive an invitation to travel to China in the next few months to be shown by Mr McCabe how his businesses have benefited from forging closer links.

The Sheffield United chairman said: "Taking the Deputy Prime Minister to Chengdu could give us an enormous fillip, not just for the region but for British business as a whole.

"We have so much to sell in the UK generally and Yorkshire in particular but we need the Government to be pulling on the rope. That's what I am going to be banging on the table about."

Yesterday, addressing a conference in Cardiff, Mr Clegg said the Government would "not repeat the mistakes of the 1980s" in dealing with the deficit in public finances.

He added: We all remember the real feeling that we were just letting our buildings and physical environment crumble because we were not keeping up investment. We are not going to do that.

"I hope people will see over the next few weeks that what we are proposing is proportionate, is necessary and if we do it right will leave Britain a stronger and fairer place."