THE former executive chairman of one of Britain's most iconic retail names has been announced as the key note speaker of York Business Conference.

The conference, which is one of the anchor events of this year's York Business Week, will host a line-up of speakers including Lord Stuart Rose, former executive chairman of Marks & Spencer.

Now in its fourth year, York Business Week is being led by the Business Engagement Group, with organisations encouraged to host events as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, running from November 17 to 23.

With the Press Business Awards set to be one of the highlights of the week on November 20, the York Business Conference is being organised by City of York Council at City Screen Picturehouse, and will focus on the city's economic resilience and rebuilding the Northern economy.

Cllr James Alexander, leader of City of York Council said: "York Business Week aims to showcase the world-class businesses that flourish here, the wealth and breadth of support and advice for businesses, and inspire a new generation of enterprise. Each year sees more – and a greater diversity of – businesses signing up to the conference and the many other events being hosted by businesses during the week. I look forward to hearing about some of the collaborations and successes to come out of this and other initiatives like it.”

Conference delegates will hear from; David Kerfoot MBE, deputy chair of York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership (YNYER LEP) and Roger Marsh, chairman of Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LCR LEP) as they discuss the thinking behind LEP targets, what York brings to these plans and how York can benefit from them.

A panel discussion will then be chaired on the day by David Parkin from TheBusinessDesk.com, with the panel consisting of Shaun Watts board member of YNYER LEP, Tim Finnigan from Quorn, Cherie Federico from Aesthetica Magazine and Aesthetica Short Film Festival and Di Burton from Cicada Communications alongside Mr Kerfoot and Mr Marsh.

Lord Stuart Rose will be interviewed by Martin Vander Weyer, business editor for The Spectator, who will focus their discussion around rebalancing the Northern economy and opportunities for entrepreneurs, questions for which can be submitted in advance to business@york.gov.uk