We have a lot to be proud of and celebrate in York – heritage, culture, lifestyle, retail, education, business, I could go on. But we shouldn’t rest on our laurels, there’s always more we can do to make it the best of the best, to keep it vibrant and help it thrive.

High profile initiatives – such as Mary Portas’ ‘Portas Review’ - have done much to highlight how we can positively support our high streets to boost employment and to make them, and surrounding areas, richly diverse and appealing places to live. Working together is key, in my view, largely by giving support to small businesses and city managers and facilitating collaborations to attract businesses and visitors to the city.

In support of this, we’re hosting the ‘Revive and Thrive Town Event’ for York’s small and medium sized enterprises and city leaders and management practitioners. We think that by helping SMEs get to the forefront of local partnerships and collaborations, they will in turn create the impetus to drive initiatives and make people want to visit high streets and give visitors lots to talk about.

The event’s panel discussion, which welcomes back former York St John Business School Acorn programme graduate Sophie Jewett as chair, will focus on how national trends have an impact at a local level and how digital technology plays a hugely important role in creating high street activity. This panel discussion, as well as discussions through the day, will lead to tangible solutions for York and impact on future developments for York City Centre – so pretty exciting stuff.

The day also gives key sponsor Micronex’s chief executive, Colin Munro, the opportunity to talk about using social and digital channels to deliver physical impacts in towns and cities. Micronex’s ‘Mi North Tyneside’ is a trailblazing digital platform which uses collaborations to increase a buzz about a town or a city, using a balance of digital marketing and on-the-ground digital ambassadors to reach customers with timely and relevant information. So rather than looking at the internet as taking away trade from the high street, they are actively making online channels work in the high street’s favour.

The opportunities are there to make a great city even greater by working together and being creative. With SMEs, communities and city centre management working collaboratively, this should be a very exciting time for York and its high streets – let’s make it happen!