YORK is set to have a month-long Festival of Business later this year, in which the city council will launch a new economic strategy.

The event will replace the York Business Week, which the council says has run successfully for the past 11 years.

However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2021 event took place online

A council report said: “The event has now been reformatted for the twelfth year and will run for the whole of November 2022.

“This recognises that, whilst the Council plays a key role in organising the event, responsibility for the economic welfare of the city is something to which all stakeholders should contribute.

“It also means that the event can be more inclusive by offering broader options to attend and take part.”

The report, prepared for a Thursday council meeting has outlined the key objectives for the event.

They include engaging the business community with content specific to current business need, including inflation pressures and challenges.

The event also aims to enable businesses to benefit from a range of prominent speakers and business leaders.

It also aims to promote peer to peer support and develop local supply chains for businesses of all sizes.

The council also wants to bring the business support community together to strengthen links, networks and foster business community collaboration.

Furthermore, City of York Council hopes the event will promote good business practice for all businesses, including sustainability, carbon reduction, internationalisation and human resources.

The report continued: “This year YFB will launch the new Economic Strategy for the City. Each of the themes guiding the Strategy will be led by a key partner who will stage a series of around five related events over three days.“

These will be an economy driven by good business, creating the right conditions for sustainable growth, a greener economy, a thriving workforce and ‘York as a global City of York Council.’

The report added: “Strategic partners have been proactive in expressing the desire to participate in the event, and both Universities, York, North Yorkshire LEP, York Science Park and the Institute of Directors, along with the Council, will lead the themes, with responsibility for developing a series of complementary events, seminars and networking.

“The detail of the format and content is in development, and discussions are continuing on a bespoke website for the event.”

The website (www.yorkbusinessweek.co.uk ) said: “York Business Festival is back with a month long programme of free events to inspire growth and spark innovation around current challenges and beyond.

“Our aim is to support the business community by delivering a month of content specific to business needs and themed around York’s new ten-year Economic Strategy.

“With topical seminars, thought provoking workshops, online and in-person networking opportunities, there will be something for everyone.

“Join us and business community leaders to explore together how we ‘build for growth.’”