Leaders to press their case for rural business cash injection

YORKSHIRE business leaders will meet the Government today to press their case for £3m of funding to rejuvenate the region’s economy.

The North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is on the final shortlist to become one of six pilot Rural Growth Networks, which would be used to revamp a number of business parks so they offer support services for firms.

Defra Ministers have pledged £15m to create the networks, which will be similar to mini versions of business-friendly enterprise zones being set up in and around towns and cities. Benefits could include broadband, fast-track planning and skills and mentoring support.

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LEP chairman Barry Dodd said they were on a final shortlist of ten, from 29 original applicants, and their bid would provide “exactly what business needs”.

“We are intending to join the market towns and 300 business parks around North and East Yorkshire. In each of our chosen places there will be a centre where business can get the support it needs,” he said.

“We have many members currently offering business support services but they all operate in silos so in rural areas, it can be hard to generate the numbers using them.

“Some of our business parks are half empty – that is not because of geography, but because of what it on offer. We want to drive up the quality of that offer, so that our business parks can compete with those in cities where many of these services are readily available.”

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Mr Dodd said he would be “extremely disappointed” if the Government did not support their bid, believing there to be high demand for the services it would provide.

A key part of the funding is to support rural enterprises led by women and Mr Dodd said the presentation team would include entrepreneur Etta Cohen, managing director of Forward Ladies, the North’s largest women’s business support organisation.

“The money we are bidding for is demand led. In the past Government has offered funding and you have worked out how to spend it, which is supply driven, but we know this is unquestionably what business needs in a rural environment, the demand is there.

“We are not building buildings either – we are building on an investment, developing what we already have.

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“Many of the other bids will be asking for money for bricks and mortar. We are looking to maximise benefit from existing building stock. We fully understand the importance of women in business and it will be a privilege to have Etta joining us.”

The Rural Growth Networks are part of a £165m package of support designed to unleash the potential of the rural economy, creating thousands of jobs and stopping rural residents having to travel to towns and cities for work. Experts have predicted its untapped potential could be as much as £347bn per year.

The LEP bid has been backed by Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith, who said rural areas are facing very different challenges to cities.

Mr Smith, who last week welcomed Andrew Haldenby, the director of the independent think tank Reform, to his Skipton and Ripon constituency to discuss the economy, said: “The visit showed the excellent work being done by businesses, business leaders and teachers in our area to promote enterprise and growth both now and for the future.

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“We should be proud of the efforts taking place to help get our economy back on track and I will continue to do all I can to ensure Government action supports those entrepreneurs and business owners who help create jobs and wealth for our communities.”