In Brief: Patrick McLoughlin; Hull Business Angels; Polish Business Link; SENTA; The Rotary Club
TRANSPORT secretary Patrick McLoughlin plans to meet Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones about plans to electrify the Leeds, Harrogate and York line.
In October Metro, along with its partners North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate Borough Council and City of York Council submitted a £94m business case to electrify the line.
This upgrade would see journey times between Leeds and Harrogate reduced to less than 30 minutes and would cut 15 minutes from end-to-end journeys. It would also mean an improved frequency of four trains per hour between Leeds, Horsforth and Harrogate, with two trains per hour extending to Knaresborough and York, using modern, electric trains.
Integrated Transport Authority chairman, Cllr James Lewis, said: “By bringing more trains and more-modern rolling stock to this extremely popular line, electrification would provide relief from overcrowding and provide an attractive alternative for car drivers, reducing congestion and helping the local economies along its route.
“I am pleased to hear that Mr McLoughlin is impressed by our proposals and hope he will agree that the best way to deliver its significant benefits is to carry out the work is as a follow-on scheme to North trans-Pennine route electrification, due to take place around 2017.”
:::
HULL’S UK City of Culture 2017 bid has achieved its initial private-sector sponsorship target.
Six business ‘Angels’ have pledged their support over recent weeks, including Baker Tilly, F&T Vending, Gosschalks, Hull KR, Keepmoat and Vivergo Fuels. They join the 14 organisations that had already sponsored the bid by becoming a Hull 2017 Angel including BP, The Deep, East Trans, Force-7, Hull College, Hull Daily Mail, KC, Nagra Properties, Neill & Brown Global Logistics, Spencer Group, St Stephen’s Shopping Centre, University of Hull, William Jackson Food Group and Wykeland Group.
The private-sector support has been secured following the launch of the Hull 2017 Angels initiative at a breakfast meeting held by the Hull and East Yorkshire Bondholders in September which focused on the City of Culture bid. Since then, the Bondholders and Hull’s City of Culture teams have worked together to secure more pledges. Should the city win, the organisations will donate £17,000 for Hull’s City of Culture programme over four years beginning from 2014, helping support the ambitious programme of Hull 2017 events.
Hull’s bid aimed to secure 20 Angels by March 2014 but has reached the target four months early and a week in advance of the team going to Derry-Londonderry for their final bid presentation. Such is the interest in backing the bid and the city’s cultural vision that the team has announced a new target for 17 more ‘Tell the World’ sponsors to back Hull’s plans if successful. The first of these has already been announced as the city exceeds its original ceiling for Angels: Premier Galvanising have confirmed they are pleased to be the first of Hull’s Tell the World sponsors.
:::
TOM Riordan, chief executive of Leeds City Council, will be speaking at a business breakfast event organised by The Rotary Club of Leeds White Rose.
Other speakers include Ben Williams, general manager of the First Direct Arena, and Sarah Tarpey, of Martin House Children’s Hospice.
The event on November 19 at the First Direct Arena will offer attendees the opportunity to network between 7am and 7.30am before the guest speakers hit the stage for presentations and Q&A sessions.
Following the speeches, guests will be given a guided tour of the First Direct Arena.
To book a place email: krebecchi@gmail.com
:::
POLISH Business Link, a network for growth-orientated Polish entrepreneurs in the UK, is holding an event in Leeds next week.
The event is organised with British Polish Chamber of Commerce (BPCC) and will take place on November 20 in Leeds Town Hall and is aimed at businesses interested in networking with Polish entrepreneurs as well as for those planning to expand in Poland.
The Polish Consulate and a BPCC policy director from Warsaw will also be attending.
:::
EXPERT assistance which helps entrepreneur’s set-up their own business has been secured.
