Andrew Palmer: We must pull together to create a better future

No-one here needs me to extol the virtues of living, working and playing in God's own country.

But I want to take this opportunity to reflect on the challenges facing Yorkshire and the Humber.

Here in the region we have been helping foster business-university relationships, recognising these can lead to many business benefits such as ideas for new products, access to graduate talent and the latest fast changing technology. But what of the future?

In business, we face much uncertainty in relation to the economy at home and abroad.

The uncertainty is made of two parts – that which I consider to be controllable and that which is not.

That which isn't relates to the public sector deficit, the recession and the global economy. We can only react to these. We cannot change them or influence them as individuals or businesses.

But what can we see ourselves influencing? Investment in our region, our infrastructure, our broadband, our politicians.

Yorkshire and the Humber has a solid core of major businesses, a

lot of medium-sized businesses and an immense number of small businesses. And, as you know, those businesses are an essential part of the coalition's Plan A – the drivers of growth and the counter to recession.

One of the challenges being brought about by the coalition is the whole area of sub-national governance with the abolition of the regional development agencies and of the Government Offices.

Clearly, there have been different views about the value of existing regional arrangements in various parts of the country. While recognising that there are always ways of improving how we do things, our experience of the work of Yorkshire Forward has generally been positive and we are anxious that, in introducing the new arrangements, the coalition does not lose the legacy of recent years.

We will be looking to the new Local Enterprise Partnerships to build on this work and, in particular, to ensure that the LEPs are clearly focused, properly business-led and address the key issues that are real barriers to economic growth.

They need to be about driving and re-balancing the economy and not simply platforms for bidding for public funds which, in any case, are likely to be scarce in the coming years.

At the moment, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about what the LEPs are, and what they will do. In some cases, there has been a good dialogue with business in producing the plans that have been submitted; in other cases, it needs to be recognised that there is much more to be done to ensure that the role envisaged for business by government in the work of the LEPs is realised.

The voice of business, and of the universities, will need to be much stronger in future if the new arrangements are to be successful.

Business has also been leading on a discussion of a pan-Yorkshire and Humber arrangement, possibly through the formation of a community interest company, to ensure that, when appropriate, some activities can operate on a larger geographic basis to support the LEPs. These are activities which might, otherwise, disappear back to Whitehall. I very much hope that something will emerge from this work.

There is a great deal still to be decided and the coming weeks will make clearer the shape of the new arrangements.

The key message from business in this region is – we want to work more closely with local authorities, universities and others to drive the economy forward and, to do so, we need to put in place arrangements that give a proper role for business.

We all want to be part of the change.

We hear "We are all in this together" and business and the region is trying very hard to respond.

It is why we need to come together across Yorkshire and the Humber, and to speak with one voice.

To continue to remind our media and our politicians that not only are we a special place to be, but that we can be so much more, both for ourselves and for the UK economy as a whole.

To continue to say that we can drive our economy forward, but not on

our own.

We are all prepared to do our bit, but we cannot invest, grow and prosper in the midst of overwhelming uncertainty.

Our region has new businesses, new technologies and new breakthroughs that will change the face of tomorrow.

The message is that we believe in partnership, in the power of business and government to work together, to innovate, to improve – to prosper. A partnership is what it must be.

Here in Yorkshire and the Humber, we believe passionately in our region, our people and our future. It is time to say so, loudly and clearly. We all have to be heard.

Andrew Palmer is regional director of the CBI. This is an edited extract of a speech that he delivered at the business organisation's annual dinner in Leeds.