Once again See Green is supporting this important event for York businesses!
We're delighted to once again be working with City of York Council and a number of business organisations in the planning of this year's York Business Festival.
See Green has worked with York Business Week, as it was previously known, in a number of ways since its inception, and a number of the team has attended sessions over the years.
For some time, we've supported the organisers by creating a web presence to allow for information, news and the full programme.
This year sees the week become a month long event in November, is led by a partnership between the Council and various business support organisations across York, including: Institute of Directors, York and North Yorkshire LEP, University of York, York St John University, York BID, Department for International Trade, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, Ad:Venture, The Supply Chain Network and See Green.
The programme kicks off with a series event led by the IoD on the theme of the York’s economy being driven by good businesses. Across three days in the first week of November, there will be a number of events talking through the benefits of ethical business, both to businesses themselves and to wider society.
This includes talks on the links between good governance and innovation, the value of the Good Business Charter and a timely discussion from the IoD’s lead economist Kitty Ussher, talking through how small businesses can manage during a time a potential stagflation.
The second week of November is themed all around round York businesses thriving, both now and for years to come. Curated by the Y&NY LEP, this week of events includes several short sharp sessions that businesses can effectively take something from and build on to better themselves.
Sessions will be around access to finance, sales, social media, recruitment and people management. There will also be a specific session for retailers, in which a panel of retail experts will answer questions and give advice for businesses in the retail sector.
In conjunction with several partners, the Council’s Carbon Reduction and Economic Growth teams have developed events for the third week of November on the theme of a reducing carbon and developing a greener economy. With the cost of energy set to increase from October, York businesses will be able to access advice at the start of the week around what they can do to manage the cost of their energy bills.
At the same time, a special pilot event has been laid on for York’s micro and SME businesses to understand how they can help cut carbon and help York become net-zero by 2030. The pilot event will be held on Wednesday 16th November and micro and small businesses will get the chance to hear from similar sized businesses on the actions they have taken to reduce their carbon footprint. Lastly, there will be sessions on the business opportunities available in the green economy in York and the need for green skills across the city.
Heading into the fourth week of November, the UoY will be leading on theme of developing York’s people and creating a thriving workforce. The events across this week will focus on ensuring our workforce has the skills that businesses need, the role of the businesses when it comes to health and wellbeing both as employers and providers, and how we can strengthen the link between education and business to help young people thrive. Sessions across this week include an inclusive recruitment workshop for the creative sector, developing bio-economy skills and an introductory workshop for micro and SME’s on the use of Virtual Reality technology.
Lastly, the Festival will conclude with series of events designed by the DIT on helping make York a global city. This last week of November will look at out how our economy relates to the world beyond the York boundary involving import, export and trade; inward investment; attracting customers from elsewhere.
The DIT has planned a morning workshop on Tuesday 29th framed around how business can move from a few international clients to an export strategy. There will be an overview of DIT’s services, talks from Export Champions, followed by a drop-in session where businesses can chat to support providers around exporting.
Kicking of the last day of the festival on Wednesday 30th will be a networking breakfast for young entrepreneurs in which the CEO of West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce will give a talk on the lessons learned from his career. Following this, the DIT have organised roundtables for the creative, bio-economy and food and drink sectors which will spread across the morning and afternoon.
Then, drawing the festival to a close will be an in-person networking event providing an opportunity for delegates to make new business contacts and round off a month of activities.
To find out more, and to see the programme so far, visit yorkbusinessfestival.co.uk
