FEW people in York could have missed knowing that Venturefest Yorkshire 2006 was staged at the racecourse.

Large road signs proclaimed the fact and the Evening Press carried a report the following day.

But what was it all about; does it matter; and will it make a difference? After all, the word Venturefest is not immediately self-explanatory.

The idea behind the event is to bring together everyone interested in entrepreneurial ideas, business and enterprise. This means that it is attended by a mix of delegates rarely found together anywhere else on a single occasion.

There are young and old entrepreneurs, as well as all the support services needed to help them to succeed, a wide range of competitions and other activities during the day, all with the intention of improving the region's performance in creating and sustaining high growth businesses.

This third Venturefest Yorkshire has grown on the success of the previous two and was rewarded with an attendance that both surprised and delighted the organisers and creators, The York Professional Initiative (YPI).

A target audience of 2,000 had been planned for, but more than 2,500 participants turned up to sample the wares on the day, making this the largest single-day event of its type in the UK. As Doug Richard, pictured, of BBC TV's Dragons' Den, who was the morning's key speaker, commented: "You guys pulled off a very impressive event. Best in the country. I'm glad I could help".

Praise indeed from a man who understands the UK business start-up scene better than most!

One of the important achievements of Venturefest Yorkshire has been to blend together a pipeline of entrepreneurial development all the way through from early days at school to experienced and successful entrepreneurs such as Doug Richard himself. About 300 schoolchildren accompanied by more than 100 teachers engaged in a wide range of enterprising activities and competitions and rubbed shoulders with professional business people - to the benefit of all.

Once again, one of our youngest entrepreneurs - this time 16-year-old James Carlyle, of Tadcaster Grammar School, - held a 300-strong pre-dinner audience enthralled with his mature presentation on how his age-group sees the business world.

Developing from school activities, there were many involvements of university graduates and undergraduates and the almost 50 exhibits from the very earliest start-up activities in Innovation Central provided the opportunity for them to present themselves to the broader business world and also for potential funders to see something of both the quality and quantity of emergent future businesses.

The 60 per cent increase in participants in Venturefest Yorkshire reflects much greater involvement from across the region, especially from Leeds and West Yorkshire. The success of Venturefest Yorkshire 2006 is another indication of York's crucial importance as an engine of economic growth, contributing to improving GDP both locally and more broadly.

Planning is already under way for Venturefest 2007 with the aspiration that this York-based activity will become still better at providing a forum for the encouragement of entrepreneurial businesses.

Here in Yorkshire we already have amazingly successful enterprise initiatives developing in schools as well as a far greater focus on developing an entrepreneurial culture in universities. All the other components of encouraging and supporting young businesses need to be available at the same time and the evidence from Venturefest is that Yorkshire is now well in the vanguard of this process.

Next year's Venturefest will deliver an even greater range of benefits through presentations, exhibitions, tutorials or competitions. Significant awards are there to be won by aspiring businesses. So keep your eye on www.venturefestyorkshire.net and the planning for Venturefest Yorkshire 2007, which will be held on February 7 next year.

Updated: 11:18 Wednesday, February 15, 2006