YP Comment: North-South divide growing. Concerns over business confidence

The floods not only highlighted concerns about the growing North-South divide that exists in this country they damaged business confidence in our region, too.

The latest Small Business Index (SBI) from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) shows that firms in Yorkshire and the North, along with those in Scotland and Wales, are worried they risk being left behind when it comes to job creation and productivity.

Small businesses in the North accounted for almost two thirds of damage claims following last month’s floods, and as they try and pick up the pieces now that the waters have receded it’s little wonder that their confidence has been shaken. For on top of all the red tape that any small business has to contend with, many now face the vexed question of finding affordable flood insurance.

There is much at stake. We know that London’s economy will continue to outpace the rest of the UK for at least the next couple of years, which not only exacerbates the North-South divide but also undermines the chancellor’s Northern Powerhouse initiative.

Business confidence is crucial for any thriving economy and small businesses are the backbone of this region’s economy - in 2014, a small group of firms were responsible for nearly a third of growth in Yorkshire and the Humber.

If the Government wants the so-called Northern Powerhouse to bear fruit then it must address the concerns of small firms along with the long-standing, and damaging, North-South divide, otherwise Mr Osborne’s dream could end up withering on the vine.

Marine protection: Boost for Yorkshire’s coastline

THE stunning Runswick Bay and a stretch of the remote, yet breathtaking, Holdneress Coast, from Skipsea to Spurn Point, are among the crowning jewels of Yorkshire’s coastline.

So the news that both these areas are among 23 newly created marine conservation zones around the country is to be broadly welcomed. It follows years of campaigning by conservation groups including Yorkshire Wildlife Trust which said the historic move would help protect the seas round our shores.

Runswick Bay, with its shallow waters, is an important spawning ground for herring, cod and whiting, while porpoises and minke whales have been spotted off the Holderness coast which is also home to numerous types of crab. Trawling and dredging have long been banned in both areas but the new conservation zones will now get extra protection.

Concerns have been raised by a group representing shellfishermen off the Holderness coast - Europe’s largest lobster and crab fishery - over the new measures, but it is believed that fishing is unlikely to be affected, something that will need to be clarified if the management of these conservation areas is to run smoothly.

There was disappointment when Yorkshire missed out in the first round of marine conservation zones three years ago, which is why Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and its members deserve credit for their tireless campaigning for more to be included. And even though the number of new areas is less than had been hoped for it is a step in the right direction.

Demise of bookshops

THE death of independent bookstores may have been greatly exaggerated, to misappropriate Mark Twain’s famous saying, but they are facing an uncertain future.

The news that two more Yorkshire bookshops are closing makes for depressing reading. The Bookshop Kirkstall in Leeds has been going for nearly 30 years and Saltaire Bookshop for eight-and-a-half. Both are now shutting up shop and they are not alone. Many independent bookstores have struggled to keep their heads above water in the face of a rising tide of e-books and cheaper prices online.

However. it’s not all doom and gloom. Last year e-books hit a plateau which coincided with a rise in book sales in the UK after a period of decline. There are also still people like Janette Rae, a bookshop owner in York, staying afloat and moving with the times.

But if we want to keep the bookshops we have left then it’s time we used them, because once they’re gone they’re unlikely to return.