Over 20 private companies are teaming up with the development agency Yorkshire Forward (YF) to attract £50m worth of new investment for the high-tech sector in the region via the formation of Connect Yorkshire, a technology networking forum.
The scheme is the first initiative of its kind in the UK and aims to develop entrepreneurial talent and to unlock intellectual property.
National and local companies taking part include: Addleshaw Booth, Brewin Dolphin, Deloitte & Touche, Energis Squared, Ernst & Young, Eversheds, HSBC, KPMG, Lloyds TSB Development Capital, London Stock Exchange, Marsh Financial Services, NM Rothschild, Pinsent Curtis Biddle, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sinclair Mason and Yorkshire Enterprise Group.
Connect will be launched on 19 July. Simon Browning, its director, said: “Connect has one mission: supporting the creation and growth of local technology firms. There are strong reasons to choose Yorkshire – including the research strengths of our ten universities – highlighted by Boeings decision to invest in Rotherham using Sheffield Universitys skills in metals engineering.”
YF’s executive director for environment, Heather Hancock, confirmed that Yorkshire Forward is abandoning its previous funding-led approach. She used a conference on regeneration to unveil a “property toolkit” using joint ventures, speculative and bespoke gap funding, land assembly and compulsory purchase powers to achieve defined priorities.
The agency aims to concentrate on unlocking land scheduled for development, to tackle utility constraints, to promote ‘e-property’ such as the Leeds Internet Quarter, to develop Strategic Enterprise Zones in South Yorkshire and to establish Urban Regeneration Companies for Bradford and Hull.
Meanwhile, YF has appointed Eileen Molloy, who has 15 years’ commercial experience, as its head of property development and Alan J Simpson as its head of urban renaissance. “We can learn from the architects and developers of previous centuries. We need to build places and spaces that people can understand and enjoy,” said Simpson.
EGi News 28/06/01
