Business and civic leaders have called on investors and government to match South Yorkshire’s ambition to level up the region and unlock a new era of prosperity and opportunity for people, businesses and places.
As momentum builds behind South Yorkshire’s economic renewal, leading figures from industry, government and finance will gather for the landmark South Yorkshire Economic Summit 2022 on Wednesday 9 March, hosted by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) and Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
The summit will explore how institutions in the region and nationally can work together to grow South Yorkshire’s business base and create economic clusters, attract new finance and unlock an innovative, thriving economy for all. Andy Haldane, the Head of the UK Government’s Levelling Up Taskforce will give the keynote address.
Lucy Nickson, Interim Chair of the South Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said:
“South Yorkshire stands at the cusp of something special. We are harnessing our powers and resources to create a dynamic, innovative economy and unlock prosperity and opportunity for all. We have a track record in attracting world-leading firms such as McLaren and Boeing and creating economic clusters in advanced manufacturing and engineering. Now we want to go much further and unleash the next generation of success stories, in aerospace, life sciences, digital and energy. Our summit will explore how we can bring our region together to make that happen and send a confident signal to investors and government that South Yorkshire is open for business and ready to level up.”
Dr Dave Smith, Chief Executive of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, said:
“Civic leaders, anchor institutions and businesses in South Yorkshire are working together to develop the infrastructure, the talent and the supply chains which our region needs for economic renewal. We have a credible, funded long-term plan and have made a strong case to government to back our ambitions. Now we are exploring how we take this to the next level, by establishing innovative partnerships and finance models which give investors certainty and attract more private investment into South Yorkshire – which is vital if we are to grow our economy and ensure more people, businesses and places share in prosperity.”
In March, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority will consider the next phase of the South Yorkshire Renewal Fund, which will inject hundreds of millions of pounds into the region’s economic renewal and agree a framework to leverage more long-term investment.
The summit will explore how the MCA, local authorities, businesses and anchor institutions can build on the support made available by the Renewal Fund to build new clusters across the region and create more success stories. In the last year alone, the MCA and LEP has supported:
- The pioneering Gene Therapy Innovation & Manufacturing Centre at the University of Sheffield. The project will create high value jobs and enable the development of a medical cluster, with an opportunity to recruit and retain graduates within the region.
- MetLase, a joint venture between Unipart and Rolls-Royce, to develop and commercialise digital products, enabling significant scale-up and global export opportunities, as well as creating jobs in the region.
- Curvalux, who are developing next-generation broadband wireless systems and aims to bring low-cost, high-speed internet access to rural communities and underserved urban areas.
- Lontra, an innovative developer, manufacturer, and exporter of high value industrial machinery for critical industries, who have invested in a new £17m Smart Factory in South Yorkshire.
