West and North Yorkshire Chamber launches a new Devolution Alliance for North Yorkshire

West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, along with the universities of York and York St John, has launched a new initiative with the aim of giving the incoming mayor of York and North Yorkshire the “best possible start” when her or she is elected in May.
Michael Crossland
By Michael Crossland
Published 11th Dec 2023, 16:45 BST

The Devolution Alliance for Business has been created to commission real-time research, listening to the voices of representatives from major business sectors to canvas their key asks from devolution so that when the mayor is elected, they can “hit the ground running” in terms of economic policy.

York & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce president, Sarah Czarnecki, said: “I’m confident that the new Business Alliance shows that we are prepared for the new Mayoral Combined Authority.

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“We want to put business leads at every level first, and the universities and Chamber are committed to working together with the Mayoral candidates to achieve that”.

Picture shows: Andrew Morrison, Mark Fordyce, Bruce Heppenstall, Helen Heraty, Cherie Federico, Andrew Lowson, Sarah Czarnecki, Charlie Lavemai-Goldsbrough, Bob Gammie and Dean Garrett. Photo by: Andy Taylor.Picture shows: Andrew Morrison, Mark Fordyce, Bruce Heppenstall, Helen Heraty, Cherie Federico, Andrew Lowson, Sarah Czarnecki, Charlie Lavemai-Goldsbrough, Bob Gammie and Dean Garrett. Photo by: Andy Taylor.
Picture shows: Andrew Morrison, Mark Fordyce, Bruce Heppenstall, Helen Heraty, Cherie Federico, Andrew Lowson, Sarah Czarnecki, Charlie Lavemai-Goldsbrough, Bob Gammie and Dean Garrett. Photo by: Andy Taylor.

The Alliance convenes a number of business leaders and stakeholders from across York & North Yorkshire and was officially launched at York’s Fairfax House on 6 December 2023.

It has been designed for its membership to span the economic demographic of the region, and each representative will present their own unique challenges, opportunities and asks from devolution.

Researchers will conduct interviews to discover what are the prime priorities which the business sectors want to be delivered by the new Mayoral Combined Authority.

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Once the research and findings have been compiled the Alliance will present this information to the mayoral candidates in order to help them shape their manifestos. The chamber said it hopes it will will create a “positive and productive” relationship with the new Mayor and authority going forward.

A number of candidates have already been selected in the run up to the Mayoral election, which is set to take place in May of next year.

The Conservatives have selected 28-year-old Councillor Keane Duncan, from Malton, who is the executive member for highways and transportation on North Yorkshire Council. The Conservative Party currently runs North Yorkshire Council, but York Council is held by Labour. Labour is set to announce its candidate in the coming weeks.

They will run against Green part candidae Kevin Foster and Independent Keith Tordoff

Related topics:YorkChamber of CommerceLabour

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