A report into York’s economy sets out exactly how the city can best hope to ride out the recession and prosper in future. In a News Analysis special, STEPHEN LEWIS spoke to city strategy boss Bill Woolley about what it all means for local people.

IT was only last December that the number of people out of work in York reached 3,000.

Over the next year, if the city’s economy contracts by 1.3 per cent as predicted, another 2,800 people could lose their jobs. If the recession continues to bite harder than we expect, that figure could be even higher.

That’s a pretty bleak prospect, admits Bill Woolley, director of city strategy at City of York Council.

“We have had nearly full employment for ten years. But we could go from having less than 3,000 people unemployed to having something over 6,000 people unemployed, which is a massive change.”

Little wonder that there are so many people in York, as there are across the country, who feel worried about their jobs and uncertain about the future.

That is why, last week, The Press, in partnership with the city council and the business community, launched its York Means Business campaign.

Despite the recession, however, City leaders continue to stress that York remains better-placed than many areas to weather the storm. “York clearly cannot be immune from what’s happening in the world,” Mr Woolley said. “Relatively, though, we are better-placed than most to ride out the recession.”

That is easy to say. But what evidence is there for it? And if York is better-placed than other areas, what does that mean for ordinary men and women worried about their jobs?

Some of the reasons council and business leaders give for York being well-placed are pretty well-known by now. It is a beautiful city in which to live, with decent quality housing, great schools, an outstanding FE college and a world-class university. There are also excellent rail links to London, Leeds and Scotland. All these make it hugely attractive to businesses which might want to start up here, open an office here, or relocate here from elsewhere. A new report from the independent research and policy institute Centre For Cities, however, reveals there are plenty of other reasons why York is in a good position. On a whole raft of measures, from relative wealth to levels of education and training, York regularly places among the top ten cities in the country.

York is the fourth “least deprived” city in the country; the gap between rich and poor is one of the lowest of any cities in the UK; the city’s residents are among the best educated in the UK; and unemployment is among the lowest of any UK city (see tables above right).

Not everything is perfect, as Mr Woolley is the first to concede. The Centre For Cities report makes clear that there aren’t enough entrepreneurs in York willing to take the risk of setting up their own business. And the financial services sector, which in recent years has been one of York’s big growth areas, is suddenly looking less vibrant because of the recession.

But the report sets out a very clear strategy for how York can build on the advantages it has. The key elements of this strategy, as reported in The Press last week, involve:

* Redoubling efforts to develop the massive York Central site.

* Turning York into a top centre for science and technology businesses.

If this can be achieved, the report says, then “in the longer term, the city’s assets – its highly-skilled workforce, quality of life and well-respected university – provide York with the potential to achieve sustained economic success.”

On this page, we examine in greater detail some of the key messages of the report, and look at what they mean for the city’s people.


Science City: It’s not all white coats in the world of science

The Centre for Cities report suggests that York should focus on areas of job and wealth creation which will have the biggest impact. A key one of those is science and technology.

It is sometimes said that science and high-tech businesses don’t employ that many people. Bill Woolley does not agree. Successful businesses that spin off from the world-leading research at York University won’t employ only scientists in white lab coats, he said. They will also need a full range of support staff – receptionists, administrators, cleaners, even people to tend their grounds.

They will also generate wealth for the city, and provide opportunities for a range of local businesses that supply them. “We can all share in this,” he says.

The bottom line is that the University of York is a world-class university, and a world leader in the biosciences and IT.

Through the work of Science City, there is already an excellent track record of converting much of that work into successful spin-off companies which bring jobs and wealth to the city.

But York can do so much more.

A third of the new campus has been set aside for spin-off businesses connected to the university, Mr Woolley said. “That is a huge opportunity.”

Then there are the construction jobs the university expansion will bring.

Work has already begun on the new Goodricke College, and the expansion will continue for the next 15 years.

Mr Woolley said: “There will be a lot of construction jobs.

“That is a hugely-important factor when there is very little development going on elsewhere.”


Entrepreneurs

One area where York hasn’t done as well as it could is in producing entrepreneurs – self-starters with the get-up-and-go to set up in business on their own.

Only 11 per cent of the city’s workforce is self-employed, compared to a national average of 12.6 per cent.

York actually does well when compared to other northern cities, Bill Woolley points out – better than Leeds, for example.

But he agrees that a culture of entrepreneurship and successful small business start-ups could really help the city through the recession.

Plenty is being done to try to foster that. Business Link and Science City both help people to set up in business.

The city’s new economic development partnership – which includes a business forum and a business intelligence service – means there is a much greater understanding in the city of the needs of business, Mr Woolley said.

Over the weekend, owners of small businesses in the York area attended The Enterprise Show 2009 at York Racecourse.

Hayley Holey, 26, of Holgate, York, who is setting up a mobile beauty business, said she had gone along to the enterprise show to get general advice.

“That’s because I know where I want to be, but I don’t necessarily know how to get there.”

Hayley, whose company is called Holey Creations, said she had found the event helpful.

Peter Abell, 44, of Wheldrake, York, who runs his own risk management consultancy, R!sk Matters, said he was looking at how to make his company more effective.

“At the moment, my business is very much in one sector, but what I’m looking to do is extend it into other areas.”

He said the advice he had received at the show was “really good”.


Deprivation: Narrow wealth gap

York has one of the narrowest gaps between rich and poor of any city in the UK – a record Joseph Rowntree would have been proud of. It is also one of the least deprived cities in the country.

That is good news, says Bill Woolley. When you get huge gaps in wealth, and areas of real social deprivation, that leads to people who feel left behind and alienated. “And that leads to all sorts of issues, like antisocial behaviour and crime.”

While York scores well overall, however, there are problem areas. Kingsway West is officially one of the most deprived areas in the country in terms of things like income, employment levels and access to health and education.

That is why the city council is setting up a pilot project there to try to turn the area around. Council staff are working alongside job centre staff, the CAB, the education department and Future Prospects as well as community leaders to try to find solutions.


York North West: Massive potential of rail site

York North West, and particularly the York Central site behind the railway station, has been described as one of the biggest brownfield sites in Europe. It has massive potential, both for new housing, but also for leisure and, perhaps most importantly, office space.

Once completed, the site will have up to a million square feet of new office space – high-quality space, the equal of anything in Leeds, Mr Woolley said. “That is an opportunity to significantly boost city centre employment opportunities.”

But what kind of businesses will use those offices?

The vision is very clear: the plans are for science, technology and innovations businesses. Not quite a Silicone Valley, perhaps, but a business park where the emphasis is on high-tech companies which employ highly trained and skilled people. Like-minded companies attract like-minded companies, Mr Woolley points out. With the excellent rail links that York enjoys there is massive potential here, and the opportunities for York to become one of the leading centres in the UK and even Europe for science and IT businesses.

Developing the site will not be easy, however.

The site’s owners, Network Rail, the National Railway Museum and Yorkshire Forward, are in the process of trying to find a developer to take on the site. All being well, a planning application for the site could be submitted by 2011/2012, and work could start by 2014/2015.

It is not going to help us get out of recession, therefore: but it could be vital to ensuring York’s longer-term future is bright.