Chair's message
Paul Wynn, Kelda Group managing director
Chair, CBI Yorkshire and Humber
Yorkshire and The Humber's economy is truly diverse and looking round the region the budding entrepreneur only has to look at our great industrial heritage to be inspired. Leeds was once described as the 'the city that made everything', from steam engines, to Tetley's beer through to clothing from Burton's and Marks and Spencer whilst the Made in Sheffield brand is as strong as ever.
Hull and The Humber continue to demonstrate excellent credentials around renewable energy and we also have Bradford boosting some of the leading companies in the region. Retail, advanced manufacturing, food, process industries, logistics are a key part of the region's DNA alongside emerging sectors in healthcare and creative industries. Overall the region is well placed to capitalise on inward investment opportunities, which we must place an importance on.
Our reputation for expertise in key sectors like engineering see traditional businesses still thrive today because they have adapted successfully to a new world order. The city of Leeds has been at the forefront of the financial and professional services sector for over 150 years, was the birthplace of the mutual building society movement and is home to some of the world's top banks and one of the UK's largest financial and business service centres. To complement to our regional economy, we have also built up the region's reputation as a young vibrant place to work, live and socialise. But it's not just in financial services and manufacturing that we have seen world-class innovation, our universities and colleges have excellent reputations too.
One of the biggest challenges for businesses will be how to build, retain and make the most of knowledge and experience in the region's exceptional workforce, while finances for training are restricted, there are major changes in the make-up of the population available for work and individual expectations of work continue to evolve. Combined with technology change and new approaches to training, this will strengthen UK competitiveness in flexible working even further. Our key cities need to continue to invest in skills and training.
Businesses already invest significantly in governance and to address sustainability in their operations. The next five to ten years will see this become more central to business with actions taken across all parts of the organisation and beyond. Businesses recognise that demonstrating accountability will be part of the new 'licence to operate'. Key factors driving this change included the decline of public trust in business; changing expectations of society; ease of access to the internet and other tools; the need to demonstrate compliance for regulatory purposes or to win certain types of contract and the need to tackle climate change and other major issues facing society today.
The CBI's growth agenda and our corporate projects are feeding into the many debates at international, national and regional level. The Yorkshire and Humber office continues to be the conduit between CBI HQ and Yorkshire and The Humber constantly lobbying for and raising the profile of businesses that are located in God's own Country. Let's embrace the challenges of the day and show that our region can continue to inspire today's budding entrepreneurs!
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