HELP one another. That is the message that rang out to 600 business people at last night’s packed York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce annual dinner at the National Railway Museum.

It came from Shaun Watts, the York and North Yorkshire Chamber president, who told them: “Now, more than ever, we should all be looking at how we can support each other.

“This chamber is rich with knowledge, experience and capability. Look around you – in our audience this evening there are business people who are leaders in their fields, who have a wealth of expertise that they are willing to share and whose teams offer superior products and services, yet who no doubt are currently looking at either their order books or balance sheets apprehensively. I would urge all members to support each other to stop money haemorrhaging out of this region to give us a chance to succeed and stimulate growth.”

Mr Watts told them he has helped to launch a York and North Yorkshire Chamber Business Council, consisting of senior figures from a cross section of regional sectors, shaping chamber policy. “It is designed to become a trusted channel of communication,” he said.

Mr Watts introduced guest speaker Gerald Ratner, the Sultan of Bling, by screening a DVD of the famous jeweller’s career-destroying gaffe when he was chief executive of Ratners, at that time riding high with 2,500 stores and profits of more than £120 million.

Mr Ratner told delegates in 1990 that his products were cheap because they were “crap” and suggested that some items “wouldn’t last as long as a Marks & Spencer prawn sandwich”.

But in an amusing speech he explained how he clawed his way back to fortune, first with a health club, which he sold for £3.9 million and now with geraldonline, his internet jewellery business said to be the largest in the sector.

He told the chamber audience: “If I can come back from my fall then anyone can.”