Export, skills and infrastructure are Yorkshire’s big issues according to accountancy firm

“IT’S a challenge as well as an opportunity for the region,” said Andy Wood, the senior partner of Grant Thornton’s Leeds office, as the business launches its Vibrant Economies initiative.

The accountancy firm is investing in a wide-ranging report which has launched to tap into the UK’s potential economic power.

Mr Wood said: “Essentially this is a campaign to put our firm at the heart of the big conversation and what we think it needs to be talked about across our country and in Yorkshire over the next 18 months.”

Mr Wood said that while initiatives like the Government-led Northern Powerhouse can merely be seen as rhetoric, but that the business has a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to get involved in the bigger conversation.

In partnership with YouGov, Grant Thornton has brought out data, some of which is common across the UK and others that are more region-specific.

They said that Yorkshire, for example, exports just 6% of total exports in UK – one of the lowest in UK.

Businesses could add £57bn to the UK’s economy, if they reached London levels of productivity.

The capital reportedly has twice as many businesses per adult than in the Yorkshire region.

Mr Wood said that skills retention, supporting entrepreneurs and new businesses were areas they wanted to delve into, particularly in Yorkshire.

He said: “Many graduates are finding it hard to get jobs to match their qualifications. In turn, employers can’t find the right people as they don’t possess the relevant skills so there is work to be done in this area.”

Mr Wood continued: “Our research also revealed that improved infrastructure, with better transport links, broadband and location came top of the list of factors that are most important to business growth.”

He said that connecting outlying towns to the key city regions was one of the biggest issues facing growth in Yorkshire.

Grant Thornton will undertake ‘city enquiries’ into what particular issues are facing businesses in the likes of Leeds in November and Sheffield in May.

Mr Wood finished: “This is a nationwide campaign which will address at root some of the UK’s fundamental social and economic challenges and the aim is to co-develop a series of solutions and partnerships that can achieve meaningful progress towards a more vibrant UK economy.

“In Yorkshire, we believe that it will complement the Northern Powerhouse initiative by delivering actions and driving real change.”