A REGIONAL festival of enterprise has put York “at the heart of business in Yorkshire”, according to an organiser.

Venturefest Yorkshire attracted nearly 1,000 people to York Racecourse for yesterday’s “gathering of innovators, entrepreneurs and investors”, which featured more than 100 exhibitors, as well as keynote speakers, workshops, seminars,networking opportunities and investment competitions.

This year the event was regionally based for the first time, and was run by Make It York, the city’s destination organisation.

On Monday Steve Brown, managing director of Make It York, told people attending the launch of York Business Week that a few weeks previously only 100 people had booked for Venturefest, but that had risen to more than 700 as bookings came in “very late and very fast”.

Yesterday that figure had reached a little under 1,000, to the delight of organisers.

James Newman, chair of the organising team, said: “The new team have really made a difference, planning some extraordinary events and getting some really good sponsors, exhibitors and speakers.

“Growth has always been about the private sector, and private-sector growth is all about new businesses, start-ups and expanding businesses.

“This is one of the very few opportunities when you can bring existing businesses, new businesses, funders, advisors and investors together in a relaxed and informal atmosphere to talk about ideas.

“We have attempted to make this is for the whole of Yorkshire and I think we have been pretty successful.”

Mr Brown said: “It’s designed to be a Yorkshire event, not a York event, and we have worked really hard to get people from all corners of the county.

“Venturefest is about getting innovators, entrepreneurs and investors into one place for one day, and let’s just see what happens.

“The idea is that connections are made; in previous Venturefests businesses have been formed because entrepreneurs have met up with investors.

“York isn’t the biggest city in the region, but from the business point of view it’s a really significant place and this puts York on the business map.

“A lot of what York is good at is on display today. It’s a good showcase for York, but it’s a Yorkshire event. It puts us at the heart of business in Yorkshire.”

The event was held across five floors, with areas focusing on specific themes, such as innovation, creative and digital, agri food and universities.

Tesla cars and the Exporting Is Great bus could be found just outside the main venue, while there was a lot of cutting-edge technology on display inside.

One of the exhibitors was New Moon Games, which specialises in virtual reality and augmented reality. Its home is now at the Catalyst in York Science Park, having previously been based in Acomb.

It was showing off a virtual reality experience in which people got the chance to “drive” a tank which is under fire.

Managing director Andrew Nye said it did a lot of work on interactive displays for museums, including a recent project in Belfast when it collaborated with two other York firms and another from elsewhere in Yorkshire to create an experience where people could “steer” a ship using a physical wheel but with a virtual prow and sea.

Explaining what being at Venturefest meant to him, he said: “As a region we need to shout more about the things we do.

“We have lots of companies in York and Yorkshire that are innovating constantly, then moving on to other things and not shouting about what they’ve done.

“We need to get out there and show what we can offer.”