Here’s how Welcome to Yorkshire can break free from Sir Gary Verity scandals – The Yorkshire Post says

They have to find a way to make a clean break from the organisation’s chequered past – the Sir Gary Verity era – while coming up with a new marketing plan in the shadow of Covid, all while facing a financial crisis that threatens its future.

The latest setback is Wakefield Council – previously led by WTY’s current chair Peter Box – refusing to sanction £78,000 and, in doing so, citing the “lavish lifestyle” enjoyed by the tourism body.

It was an unfair criticism of the current WTY regime, and its prudence after losing more than half of its staff in the past year, but it did, in fact, go to the heart of the issue.

Hopefully the next set of accounts – due to be published by the end of this month – will confirm the differences in financial approach now being followed and help allay the concerns of critics.

WTY can help itself by honour its own transparency test – the promise made by Mr Box when he took the helm. For example, the minutes of the last board meeting are not yet in the public domain.

And it should be in a position to set out a clear mission statement so the whole county can be left in no doubt about its role and objectives. Yorkshire needs world-class marketing. But Welcome to Yorkshire will only be in a position to rebuild – and provide the expertise required – once it can put clear distance between the creative work being undertaken now and those past scandals that continue to cause damage.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson