BUSINESS leaders in York were meeting today to discuss how to revitalise the city centre after it ended up in a disappointing 24th place in a national shopping survey.

The matter will be raised at a business planning workshop at the National Centre for Early Music called by Carolyn Dunn, the newly-appointed chief executive of York City Centre Partnership Ltd.

Her new partnership was launched in October with the aim of boosting city centre shopping in York.

The idea is to bring together local businesses, City of York Council and Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency, to make the city more competitive with other shopping destinations in the region.

York was ranked in 24th place in an Experian survey last year covering the whole of the UK.

Ms Dunn said today: "That (York's placing in the survey) is commendable considering the figures are for the whole of the UK, but we should aspire to do better.

"The quality of York's stores is one element among many that we are discussing today.

"We are looking for suggestions to push York up the rankings not just in retail terms, but also what we have as professional offerings."

Partnership director Adam Sinclair said today that, despite the results of the survey, shopping in York was "improving dramatically".

"I wouldn't be too downbeat about the situation considering the new brand names that have come in recently," he said.

"It shows that the shopping offered in York is improving and they will adapt to our historic environment."

Mr Sinclair said new fashion brands such as H & M and Zara, in Spurriergate, had given the retail economy a lift.

"York is on the up," he said.

"We hope to achieve a plan to develop the vibrancy and quality of the city for the benefit of all users including residents, visitors, inward investors and shoppers alike."

The Evening Press previously reported in March last year that a previous survey by analysts Javelin ranked York 19 out of 20 in terms of what it had to offer as a chain store venue.

More than 250 businesses have been invited to today's meeting, with alerts also going out to the city-based members of the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, as well as members of the York Professional Initiative.

Views expressed today could influence a business plan for the city centre, which is being hammered out by the partnership for the end of March or beginning of April.

Len Cruddas, chief executive of the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said it was vital that business leaders to talk about how to improve the situation.

"Things are okay in York at the moment," he said.

Updated: 10:16 Tuesday, February 14, 2006