An uncertain future, in good hands
Welcome to 2004 - and here's to a successful and prosperous year for everyone in the business community in Yorkshire and the Humber.
In truth it is asking the impossible that every firm in the region will taste success during the year. Although the rate of new business start-ups goes up every year, half of these will go to the wall within three years.
And the corporate sector enters the new year with many of the challenges that it faced in 2003 still looming large, although a general talking up of the economy gives hope that the 12 months ahead will prove more profitable than the 12 months just past.
But if the future is uncertain, it is at least in good hands in the region - and if you are in any doubt about that, take the time to read through the 42 Under 42 feature, which starts on page 15 and showcases 42 of the best young people in Yorkshire and the Humber who are doing great things either for the business they established or the company they work for.
The nominated candidates come from a wide range of disciplines, which in itself shows the diverse range of skills that exist in the region. And while some of them are on the way to being millionaires well before middle age sets in, others, although they may never be filthy rich, are on their way to the top of their chosen profession.
The importance of focused and driven young entrepreneurs cannot be over-estimated. In the same way that young footballers like David Beckham and Paul Scholes went on to become the backbone and inspiration of the Manchester United and England teams, many of the young guns featured in the 42 Under 42 nominations this year will go on to be the business leaders of tomorrow.
To continue their success, these rising stars need the help of a level playing field and a healthy economy, and 2004 will see a number of challenges that could well test both of those fundamental requirements.
Interest rates went up for the first time in a long time in November, fuelling fears that the trend will continue during the coming year.
The feeling is that as long as rates do not go up beyond 5 per cent, the markets and confidence should not be too badly affected, although what impact rising interest rates have on an business depends on its sector and the extent of its borrowings.
But with Britain edging closer to European economic integration, and the subsequent need to keep interest rates in line with the traditionally low northern Europe levels, the hope is that the problem of rising rates is one that will simply not materialise.
Perhaps a bigger challenge is the integration of a number of new countries - many of them from Eastern Europe - into the EU during 2004.
This throws up the possibility of the sudden emergence of a new and cheap pool of labour in the Eurozone, which has the potential to affect the UK economy as much as it does the fortunes of the other leading European states.
No-one knows for certain how things will develop when the Eurozone is extended, and indeed many commentators see the emergence of new EU members as a positive move for the European economy.
My hope is that our leaders in Westminster and in the various government agencies that UK businesses rely so much upon can represent the case of British industry and commerce at the highest level to make sure that companies large and small do indeed have a level playing field to compete on.
John Givens, editor
All quiet on the regional assembly front
Since the turn of the year one question in particular has cropped up time and time again: what are my thoughts on a regional assembly for Yorkshire and the Humber and what stance will Insider be taking on the issue?
The answer is brief and simple - I do not know. But that is not because I have no interest in the debate or that I am not bothered about taking a view, just that I do not know enough about the issue yet to adopt a position for or against.
With a vote on the topic expected in October, it surprises me that so little has been said and written about the prospect of a regional assembly and that everything seems relatively quiet on the campaign front.
With just seven months to go before the decision to devolve power from London to the region is to be made I think now is the time for those campaigning for and against the issue to come to the fore and tell people like me exactly what the positives and negatives of a regional assembly will be. Until that information is out in the public domain and easily accessible neither I nor anyone else can be expected to take a view and decide whether another tier of government in Yorkshire and the Humber is a good or bad thing for the region, its people and its economy.
Lord Haskins, who is currently fronting the yes campaign, and John Watson, who is spearheading the opposition to a regional assembly in Yorkshire and the Humber, are gearing themselves up for a battle to convince the electorate of their respective views. However, neither have had much to say publicly so far on the subject, which means people are very much in the dark on the merits of a devolved government for the region.
But neither Haskins nor Watson can be really blamed for the deafening silence on the issue. The problem, it would seem, lies in Westminster, where the powers that be have decided not to look at the bids from the yes and no campaigners until July. Once that has been done, the successful bidders - widely expected to be Lord Haskins and John Watson, will each get £3100,000 cash to finance their attempts to convince the electorate of their opposite stances on the issue.
But my concern is that waiting until July may be too late and that if not enough detail is forthcoming soon enough, the decision to elect a regional assembly might be made by staunch Yorkshire folk motivated solely by the principle of taking decisions away from Westminster and bringing them in house, but who perhaps do not fully understand the political and economic ramifications of a regional assembly.
The other side of the coin is the danger that a no vote will be returned because of a lack of interest in the issue, encouraged by a shortage of information about how it might change people's lives.
Until the campaigners can get on with the task of detailing exactly how they see a regional assembly working and what it will do for Yorkshire and the Humber, it is difficult to see how the electorate can buy into the idea.
It would make sense for the Government to give the matter more urgent attention, and appoint the official campigners sooner rather than later and let the issue be placed firmly on the agenda so that the debate can begin.
When that happens we will all be much better informed and can decide with confidence and a clear understanding of what the vote means about how we want the region to be governed in the years ahead.
Yorkshire's capital conference call
Alittle bit of Yorkshire was in London on 23 March when the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward hosted its International Business Conference in Westminster.
It featured some big hitters from the UK's business community - CBI director-general Digby Jones, former Bank of England governor Sir Eddie George, controversial Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell and Patience Wheatcroft, the business editor of The Times.
And together with Yorkshire Forward chairman Terry Hodgkinson and chief executive Martin Havenhand, the assembled cast put on an entertaining and informative display that, judging by the reaction of delegates, conveyed a positive and compelling message as to why businesses should invest in Yorkshire and the Humber.
As usual some people were more interested in the cost of putting on this capital show than the potential benefits and I was angered when one delegate, seemingly oblivious to events just passed, asked me: "Exactly what does Yorkshire Forward do?"
During his conference address Digby Jones was happy to venture that, in his opinion, Yorkshire Forward is one of the two best RDA's in Britain - there are eight in total - and that the job that the agency does is highly respected.
Yorkshire Forward goes to immense efforts to get out and about in the regional, national and international arenas to spread the gospel of Yorkshire being a great place to live, work and play. Conferences like the one in London - which attracted a global audience - are a vital part of an RDA's operations and we should be inspired that Yorkshire Forward has the courage and foresight to be so innovative in its approach to regeneration - and to venture where other RDAs fear to go.
But the thing that encourages me the most about Yorkshire Forward is not the job that it does in championing the cause of the region, but the quality of its people.
Spending some time with the Yorkshire Forward team, as I did at the conference, allowed me to see at first hand the commitment and enterprise of those individuals at the sharp end of the RDA's operations - and also to witness how much they care about making a difference for the region.
In Terry Hodgkinson, Yorkshire Forward has a chairman whose stock rises with each public appearance. He impresses with his drive and passion for the regeneration of Yorkshire and the Humber but also displays commendable levels of honesty, humility and even, on occasion, a degree of shyness. And Martin Havenhand, whose steely-eyed call to arms for businesses to come to Yorkshire and experience everything the region has to offer carried a strong message, displayed all the pride and determination that Yorkshire folk are renowned for.
And the team that supports the top men are a personable and skilled bunch bringing strategic and operational expertise to the table and playing a key role in the direction that Yorkshire Forward takes.
If you are like me you do business with all sorts of people of varying character and skill, but the ones that you enjoy working with the best are those who you like best.
There is no reason why I should have to champion the cause of Yorkshire Forward, and if and when it makes a mistake worthy of debate I will not hesitate to highlight it.
But I have respect for the agency and its people and what it is trying to achieve. And I would reassure anyone who may view the RDA with scepticism that Yorkshire Forward is in good hands and that its people can make a real difference to the economy and the lives of everyone in the region.
John Givens, editor
Heed the words of new RDA boss
January 12 marked a watershed occasion for Yorkshire and the Humber's regional development agency when its new chairman, Terry Hodgkinson, made his first high profile address since taking over the hot seat in December.
More than 1,000 delegates crammed into the main hall at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate for the full day conference, which featured a number of speakers, including Alastair Campbell, Lord Sainsbury and former Millennium Dome boss PY Gerbeau.
But it was Hodgkinson who contributed the most to the day with his call for businesses in the region to innovate and to increase productivity to levels more in line with that seen in the US, France and Germany. He also pointed out that if Yorkshire could match the average manufacturing performance of its competitors, the added value would be worth £370 billion a year.
And, significantly, he pointed a finger at the lack of investment in research and development in the region - Yorkshire is bottom of the UK league table in that department, spending just 0.47 per cent of its GDP on R&D, compared with the national figure of 1.39 per cent - concluding that "we should be ashamed. The great powerhouse of invention and innovation has ceased to invest in its own ideas".
On the basis that you never get a second chance to make a first impression, Hodgkinson's address at the conference was arguably the most important he will ever deliver during his time as the RDA's chairman, and most people in attendance would agree that he passed the test with flying colours.
That he was willing to point the region's business base in the right direction by highlighting perceived weaknesses shows that he will not be a chairman who rests on his laurels and revels in the many successes that come out of Yorkshire, while ignoring the problems that need to be addressed if the area is to achieve a sustained period of economic growth and increase the strength and quality of its industry and commerce.
Hodgkinson also highlighted many of the positives, alluding to Yorkshire's great industrial and commercial traditions, describing the region as "the powerhouse of the nation" and pointing to its 260,000 businesses, which gives the area one of the highest concentrations of firms outside London.
Although Hodgkinson's words were strong on occasion, I think they were just what the conference needed to hear and exactly the right way for the new RDA boss to make his early mark on the region's business leaders.
Strong management is the very foundation of any successful organisation, and by signalling his intention to identify the region's weaknesses and to act to improve these shortcomings, he sent an important message to everyone who will look to Yorkshire Forward in the years ahead to lead from the front in the bid to make the region a better place for us all to live, work and play.
But the important thing is that businesses of all kinds across Yorkshire and the Humber need to heed Hodgkinson's words and redouble their efforts to innovate, boost productivity and significantly increase investment in research and development.
Taking over from Sir Graham Hall was always going to be a challenge after the number of successes he enjoyed at Yorkshire Forward,. But I believe that in Hodgkinson - a personable man with strong experience of running successful businesses - the RDA is in good hands and that he will achieve much during his time as chairman.
I wish him well.
John Givens, editor
From pithead to the piste
Castleford's regeneration focussed both on community and property
Testing times for Elland Road hierarchy
Compiling the Business of Sport story, which starts on page 14, highlighted the ups and downs being experienced by the region's major sporting organisations. These range from halcyon days at Hull City, Doncaster Rovers, Huddersfield Town and Leeds Rhinos, to steady progress at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, and the desperate plights of Leeds United and York City.
The success of the three Yorkshire and Humber football clubs promoted from Division Three in May is great news for the region and I take my hat off to all the people at those clubs who have worked tirelessly to achieve what they have.
But while their success justifiably made the headlines, it is a story of an altogether different kind that has hogged the news pages recently - the catastrophic demise of Leeds United.
The club's relegation from the Premiership in May leaves the region without a top-flight football side for the first time in decades, and its financial plight demands asset stripping of the side's best players, which means that a quick return to the gravy train that is the Premier League is probably unlikely.
Who is to blame for the club's remarkable fall from grace and its mountain of debt?
A number of names were thrown into the ring, and inevitably it was Peter Ridsdale's whose cropped up most often. But although he was involved in a number of decisions that perhaps can now be questioned, I have a degree of sympathy for him.
I believe Ridsdale's vision for Leeds was an honourable one and his ambitions helped put together a side that just over three years ago was packed with top-class international players and taking on Valencia in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
At that time I did not hear many people complaining about the huge transfer fees that he had paid to bring the players that manager David O'Leary wanted to West Yorkshire. Nor did I hear anyone taking issue with the massive salaries Ridsdale and his board had sanctioned to attract the right calibre of player - salaries that were being paid at just about every other Premier League club worthy of its name. And nor did I hear anyone mocking the chairman for allegedly spending a couple of hundred pounds or so on maintaining an aquarium in his office.
Ridsdale and his board were doing their best to bring success to Leeds United. But I think that they were tripped up, along with other football club boards, by the unexpected collapse of the transfer market that left many of the Elland Road club's major assets - its players - worth less than they were acquired for. And when Leeds failed to qualify for the Champions League or UEFA Cup for the 2003/04 season and lost the hefty revenue streams that come with European campaigns, the writing was on the wall.
Ridsdale's European dream simply didn't work and the club, its supporters and Ridsdale himself are suffering for that. But if it had worked, he would have been given the keys to the city.
The challenge ahead is for those people who can help to re-wheel the Leeds United bandwagon to do just that. Whether it is Gerard Krasner and his board members, or benefactors with the financial clout to make a difference, I hope that they show themselves and are successful in guiding Leeds back to the Premier League for the sake of the region and the suffering Elland Road supporters. It will take heavy investment, courage, determination and strong financial management, but a successful Leeds United is vital to the city and can have a strong influence on its economy.
Whoever takes on the task, now or in the future, I wish them well.
John Givens, editor
Back Blair to lead from the front
In the last month two of the nation's leading figureheads have come in for calls to resign after a generally perceived failure to deliver on promises made.
Sven Goran Eriksson's inability to progress England beyond the quarter finals of Euro 2004 in Portugal should come as no surprise to any football fan who is objective enough to remove their rose-tinted spectacles and assess the prospects of English football on the basis of the talent available to the national team coach.
The fact is that English football is technically light years behind many of its European and world counterparts, with teams like Greece, Denmark and Sweden - once considered cannon fodder for England - proving they are technically more adept than Eriksson's side. And he cannot be blamed for that.
But the man who has really been under the cosh is the prime minister, Tony Blair, who we are led to believe has considered quitting following criticism of his premiership, focused largely on the decision to back the allied invasion of Iraq.
Blair's precarious position is clearly a national issue, but anything that threatens the stability of the Government has serious ramifications for the regions, and with a referendum on Yorkshire and the Humber adopting a regional assembly looming, his future at Number 10 may have a bigger impact on the area than is immediately obvious.
But leading a nation to the satisfaction of everybody is an impossible task and I believe that people should get off Blair's back and let him get on with the job.
My opinion seems to be a minority one judging by the general consensus, something that is reflected in the views of those contributing to this month's Burning Issue vox pop on page nine where the majority say he should stand down.
But I believe that would be a bad thing for Britain. Blair is well respected in the international community and that is a vital thing for the nation and its future.
Certainly he has made mistakes, not least his sponsoring of the Iraq invasion. But we should consider that the decision to oust Saddam Hussain and his evil regime was not one that Blair made without considerable deliberation, working on information from various global intelligence agencies that may now be proven to be wrong.
Blair has also been lambasted for his backing of George Bush in the Iraq crisis, but I think this is unfair. The days are long gone when the British Empire ensured that half the globe was coloured pink and Britain is frankly too small a nation to go it alone.
International partnerships are vital to our prosperity and security, and as long as Britain continues to dither over European integration, a strong relationship with the United States is hugely important.
A further reason why Blair should remain in office is the lack of a credible successor.
Gordon Brown is a decent chancellor, but why is it assumed he would be a good prime minister? He certainly doesn't have the charisma of Blair, and that, I believe, would be a big drawback.
And Michael Howard may yet prove he has the ability to lead the nation, but for the time being I think his Conservative Party is still regenerating itself from the debacle of the final years of John Major's reign and is not experienced enough to govern Britain.
Change for change's sake is not a good thing, and although I am not really a political animal, I believe that the electorate should shed its blame culture and get behind Blair and encourage him to continue to lead from the front in the brave manner he has done so in recent and difficult times.
John Givens, editor
Not now, John
So that's that then. John Prescott has now abandoned plans to hold a referendum on whether Yorkshire needs a directly elected regional assembly.
It's hardly surprising, of course, given that the people of the North East rejected having such an assembly in a referendum that politicos could not even blame on a poor turnout - 47 per cent these days is entirely respectable for this kind of ballot. Respectable enough for shadow minister Bernard Jenkin, who had predicted something much lower, to live up to his promise and eat his hat.
I could be disingenuous and say Prescott's decision is odd, given that only two months ago he told Insider that the decision on whether to hold a ballot in Yorkshire had nothing to do with the North East vote, as all he was waiting for was the results of the report into postal ballots. (In fact there seems little point in bothering to bring out this report at all now, given that the idea of having all-postal ballots is equally dead in the water.)
But I actually think Prescott's decision is sad - on two fronts. First of all because yet again the people of Yorkshire are finding that decisions are being made for them by people from another region - not the corridors of Whitehall, for once, but the North East, somewhere that is just as infused with the spirit of New Labour, (just think of all the Blairite MPs who have their seats in the region).
And it is also sad because we will still have a regional assembly. It just won't be directly elected. And it will cost money to run - in addition to the £3400m that has allegedly already been spent on the referendum campaigns.
I'll come clean and admit that I was against the kind of powerless talking shop the referendum was proposing. But Yorkshire does need to start clawing back the massive centralisation in decision making that has cost it dearly in the past two decades.
The cities and the districts within the regions need more powerful democracies. "Why can't Yorkies make decisions for Yorkies?" Prescott intoned as a kind of mantra while the campaign was on. I couldn't agree more, John. Only by Yorkies I mean the citizens of the city of York just as much as I mean the population of a larger, less easily quantifiable region like Yorkshire and the Humber (or is it just Humber? Or Humberside? And what about North East Lincolnshire? You get my meaning...)
The North East vote will make one important change. Directly elected regional assemblies were very much seen as Mr Prescott's pet project, following on from regional development agencies and all those other reforms that he has waited all these years, decades even, to bring to fruition. Given that the idea has had such a drubbing at the polls, it is more than likely that come the next election the man who was already being described as being "in the departure lounge of politics" when Labour was re-elected in 2001, will find his plane has taken off for the land of serialised memoirs, lecture tours, and, dare we imagine it, a seat in the Lords.
Peter Baber, deputy editor
An international airport by any other name
News that Peel Holdings' new international airport at Finningley, on the outskirts of Doncaster, will be ready for its first flights by spring next year was always going to be received with some excitement. But you couldn't predict how much of a stir it would cause.
It wasn't the fact that Thomsonfly was to be the airport's first carrier, more that Peel bosses had thought long and hard on a name for the airport that would capture the imagination of the international community - and came up with Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield.
The initial response was disparaging to say the least. The mayor of Doncaster, Martin Winter, voiced his disapproval of a tag that is associated with Nottinghamshire, where we are led to believe the green-tighted outlaw went about his work of stealing from the rich to give to the poor in Sherwood Forest.
The fact that Robin Hood - or at least the man that the legend is based on -
is said to have spent much of his time in Yorkshire and to be buried at Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds fell on deaf ears, as did the fact that Robin Hood's Bay is also in Yorkshire.
The furore baffled the beleaguered bosses at Peel Holdings with David Ryall, managing director designate of Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport, taken aback by the public response played out in the regional and national press.
I have some sympathy with the doubters, since my first reaction was that the name Robin Hood does indeed belong to Nottingham. Then I learned of the legend's Yorkshire connections and of the task facing those responsible for naming Finningley.
Their brief was simple - to decide on a name for Britain's newest airport that would mean something to people outside the UK and that would also represent the counties of Yorkshire. It occurred to Peel's management that Robin Hood was the best option, especially as the character is widely known across the Atlantic, and the US market is seen as one of the key drivers for the new airport's long-term success.
But actually, what does it matter what the airport is called as long as it becomes synonymous with Yorkshire?
The story reminds me of a similar event close to my own heart - the naming of Sunderland Association Football Club's new stadium in 1997.
Chairman Bob Murray chose to name the new facility the Stadium of Light, a decision that caused an outcry among bemused fans, with many observers believing that Murray was simply copying the name of Benfica's old stadium in Lisbon.
That was until they learned that the Portuguese giant's ground is named after the district of Lisbon it is situated in - Lite - and that the Light in Sunderland's new home was a tribute to the hundreds of thousands of coalminers who had donned battery-powered lamps on their pit helmets before descending into the depths of the now defunct Monkwearmouth Colliery, on which site the football stadium stands.
Now the Stadium of Light is accepted as one of the finest stadia in Europe and the name is instantly recognisable as belonging to the city and its football team.
Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield will almost certainly achieve the same status. Rather than bicker and scoff about its name, everyone in Yorkshire should concentrate on the bigger picture - how the new airport can help in the regeneration of the region, bringing new businesses, new enterprise and new jobs to the area.
Let's hope that the Robin Hood legend lives up to its name - that the airport can help to steal business from the wealthier areas of the UK and Europe and distribute it to the poorer parts of Yorkshire and the Humber that badly need regeneration.
John Givens, editor
Assembly line groans to a halt
Just when I was starting to gear myself up for the potentially complex task of understanding the issues relating to a proposed regional assembly for Yorkshire and the Humber, deputy prime minister John Prescott pulled the rug from under my feet by 'postponing' the referendum planned for October.
Despite the fact that he had visited the region earlier this year to extol the virtues of regional government to all who would listen, the Hull MP suddenly decided that time was too short and that the systems were not in place for a vote to be properly conducted in Yorkshire and the Humber.
However, although there seems little evidence that the North East is any more capable of pulling off a successful referendum than the two other regions, in his wisdom he decided that it was OK for a vote on a regional assembly out of Newcastle to go ahead.
Am I the only one who is somewhat confused and slightly suspicious at the way events on the regional assembly issue have unfolded in recent months?
Not according to the consensus of this month's Burning Issue vox-pop on page 15, where the majority agree with my assessment that Prescott made the decision to cancel the referendum because he realised that it was a campaign he just couldn't win.
On the basis that it is pointless getting involved in battles where failure is more likely than success, you could say that the deputy prime minister was simply applying good politics. After all, the last thing New Labour needs at the moment is to give the electorate yet another stick to beat it with - especially as a General Election looms.
But in my opinion the whole idea of an autumn referendum on a regional assembly for Yorkshire and the Humber was fundamentally flawed from day one.
I expressed concerns in this editorial column in March about the timescale set out for the 'yes' and 'no' lobbies to get their message across being too short.
The original calendar suggested that a £3100,000 war chest would be given to each of the campaign teams in July so they could finance their battle to sway hearts and minds in time for an October vote - that's just three months to convince the electorate on an issue that would have serious ramifications for the future of the region.
Why this wasn't recognised sooner by Prescott or the pro-regional assembly figurehead Lord Haskins is a mystery to me. Perhaps neither of them read Insider, but it should have been evident from the outset that three months was not long enough to get the issues across sufficiently to ensure people were in receipt of all the important facts.
In any event, a front page in the Yorkshire Post in July, where Lord Haskins voiced his sudden concerns over timescales, was followed soon afterwards by Prescott's decision.
For the record, I was against the idea of a regional assembly. The potential for another tier of bureaucracy in Yorkshire and the Humber does not appeal, and one look at the debacle that is the Scottish Parliament shows the dangers of devoluted governance. The fact that the project is massively over budget and years behind schedule is bad enough, but the fact that, by all accounts, only two per cent of legislation that affects Scotland comes out of Edinburgh is a real concern and highlights fears that regional assemblies pay little more than lip service to the electorate.
So for now the issue is off the agenda, although I do expect it will return in the not too distant future when I also expect Yorkshire and the Humber folk will rise up against the idea and consign a regional assembly for the region to the dustbin forever.
John Givens, editor
