York and North Yorkshire’s devolution deal would allow the region to take its “rightful place” at the top table and boost the county in the eyes of central government, business leaders have said.

Three senior business figures and an education leader were unanimous in their support for the deal, which would release millions of pounds of funding and give the region new powers for large-scale projects, at a City of York Council meeting.

York and North Yorkshire’s council leaders signed a provisional deal with former Levelling Up Secretary Greg Clarke last month. If agreed in full by the respective councils, it will go out for public consultation in October.

Helen Simpson, chair of the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said central government viewed the region a “affluent”.

“They don’t particularly think we’re very entrepreneurial, or that we have exciting businesses,” she said.

She said the deal was a “watershed moment” and urged councillors to grasp the opportunity.

“I particularly want to emphasise the transition of decision making from Westminster into the region,” she added. “We become – potentially – increasingly masters of our own destiny.”

Carolyn Frank, from the North Yorkshire Federation of Small Businesses, said the deal would help tackle the deficit in skills and the wider workforce shortage, improve transport connectivity and provide better support for businesses.

South and West Yorkshire already have devolution deals, along with several other areas of the country.

Ms Frank said: “We hear a lot from businesses who see the ambition in neighbouring counties and who don’t feel we’ve got that here.

“We always miss out as a region and this is an opportunity for us to take our rightful place alongside others.”

LEP chief operating officer James Farrar said the deal would unlock funding that is currently unavailable or difficult to come by.

The deal is the first signed nationally that combines a city and rural region and Mr Farrar said that would allow for growth into areas like Selby, Malton and Easingwold.

Charlie Jeffrey, vice-chancellor of the University of York, said the deal would provide a boost for BioYorkshire, a project aimed at turning the region into the UK hub for green innovation and enterprise.

Certainty around public sector investment would bring in further private sector investment, Mr Farrar said.

He added: “If you don’t have the mayoral combined authority and you’re constantly working to this two to three year competitive cycle with government to get bits and bats funding, it’s much less attractive to industry to come up alongside it.”