York Guides

Greg Wright (Yorkshire Post)
Deputy Business Editor
A MULTI-million pound package to create 800 jobs and 50 businesses in Yorkshire over the next four years was unveiled yesterday.

The £2.85m funding will be used by Science City York (SCY) – a partnership between York City Council, the University of York and the private sector – to nurture hi-tech businesses.
The funding package was announced by SCY board member Professor Tony Robards during a presentation at a Science Cities National Workshop at the National Railway Museum in York.
The event, sponsored by Yorkshire Forward, was a brainstorming session to develop a manifesto for Government action to support knowledge-based industries.
The bulk of the new investment, £1.85m, will come from Yorkshire Forward with the remainder contributed by the York City Council, the University of York and local companies.
Professor Robards said the new investment would enable SCY to extend its three clusters – bioscience, creative and IT and digital – in York and North Yorkshire, as well as developing initiatives to improve the skills of the local workforce.
He added: "Over the next four years we hope this will create a further 800 jobs and 50 new businesses and by 2021, we anticipate that the local economy based around the technology and creative clusters will be employing 22,000 people.
"That is not just a figure plucked out of the air – we have had two detailed formal studies to look at this. Indeed the figures are quite conservative and we may be able to do even better."
Professor Robards said the new funding package would build on the success of SCY, which has seen the creation of more than 60 technology companies and 2,600 jobs since it was established in 1998.
Two Government ministers, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, John Healey, and Minister for Science and Innovation, Lord Sainsbury, addressed the workshop along with American Science City guru Henry Etzkowicz, of the State University of New York.
Lord Sainsbury, who launched SCY in 1998, said: "What a pleasure it is to see what a success it has become. I remember at the time thinking this was enormously exciting. The people here have delivered something which is really tremendous and it's a real pleasure to see."
Mr Healey added: "We set our ambition to raise public and private investment in research and development to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2014. Science Cities will provide a clearer strategic focus for innovation support.
"It will identify areas of science and technology where the local research base has a distinct competitive edge, and help to connect this research excellence with market demand."
York was designated as a Science City – along with Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham – by Chancellor Gordon Brown in the 2005 Budget. The accolade reflects York's status as a centre for innovation.