ONE indication of the vitality of a city is the number of networking and social occasions presented by its business community.

Last week, York was buzzing, with visits from the Duke of York and the Governor of the Bank of England - to name but two - and a speech from the Archbishop of York to members of the York Professional Initiative.

The Duke of York turned up to address the Yorkshire Union of Law Societies' biennial lunch at St William's College.

Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, undertook a tightly packed itinerary, visiting the University of York and Science Park, interacting with representatives of business at dinner, and then addressing a packed audience from the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce at breakfast in York's Merchant Adventurers' Hall.

Like other members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Mr King makes several visits each year to the regions of the UK to get a first-hand impression of the local economy. These complement the monthly reports provided to the MPC by the Bank's 12 regional agents.

This direct intelligence supplements information from official statistics and business surveys.

About 60 such visits take place each year. Discussions with businesses also enable MPC members to explain the current policy position, the factors influencing interest rate decisions, and uncertainties and risks in the economic outlook.

Additionally, they provide businesses with an opportunity to offer insights and opinions about the economic situation and the MPC's policy stance.

At the university, the Governor received a briefing on current progress and future developments from vice-chancellor, Professor Brian Cantor.

Then Mr King explained the workings of the MPC to a mixed audience of staff and students from the Department of Economics, frequently drawing on interesting sporting analogies to make his point.

He visited two early-stage spin-out companies on the Science Park: Bioniqs which designs and makes ionic liquids that have a range of novel and potentially important industrial applications, and Rapita Systems, which designs software tools that ensure software in safety critical situations (for example in controlling the operation of air bags in motor cars) actually does exactly what it should do ... without fail - every time!

His tour finished with a round table discussion with members of the university's Science Park and Enterprise and Innovation Office teams.

At the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce's monthly networking breakfast, more than 120 chamber members heard the Governor speak and developed contacts through active networking.

He started by saying that he needed to be boring! The Bank of England's first core purpose is to "maintain the integrity and value of the currency". Above all, this involves maintaining price stability, as defined by the inflation target set by the government.

Stable prices - low inflation - are seen as a precondition for achieving a wider economic goal of sustainable economic growth and high levels of employment.

The breakfast provided an excellent platform for members to question the governor on issues related to their own businesses.

And then there was Archbishop John Sentamu, and no ordinary archbishop at that! He gave a carefully crafted and well-focused talk to 130 members of the York Professional Initiative, emphasising the importance of businesses working together as part of a community.

He confidently touched on important business issues including regulation, debt and cash flow, showing a good grasp of the issues that affect all businesses.

So, in another busy week in York's business life, two major, national leaders had given their views on business and the economy to eagerly attentive audiences.

Once again, the strength of partnerships in York was very much to the fore, with City, Church, University, Chamber of Commerce, the Company of Merchant Adventurers, and many businesses being among those who are all involved in the process of creating the conditions in which people will be pleased to live and work.

Updated: 10:34 Wednesday, May 24, 2006