Global economy – the main focus at major Sheffield event

A wealth of speakers from top-level business, political and industry backgrounds gathered in Sheffield to take the stage at the city’s first ever Economic Summit.

Business professionals including Sir John Banham, ex-director general of the Confederation of British Industry; Margaret Hodge, minister of state for industry and the regions; Dennis Turner, chief economist at HSBC and Steve Beswick, director of education for Microsoft UK were amongst those speaking during the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce-led event.

The Summit examined the role of the city within the regional economy and within the wider global marketplace, looking at Sheffield’s capacity for competitive international trade.

The event was divided into four sessions, the first of which was ‘Raising the Bar in a Global Economy’. This opening session examined the indicators, trends and current thinking about how well placed the UK and its regions are to succeed in a globalising world, as well as the challenges and opportunities to our economic prosperity and competitiveness in a global economy.

Speaking in this session was Dennis Turner, Sir John Banham and Geoff Muirhead, group chief executive of The Manchester Airport Group Plc.

Dennis Turner was the first to take the stage with a discussion about the UK economy and the way it has changed over the years. He also talked about the high levels of inward investment into the country, stating that: “Money is coming into us at a disproportionate rate to the rest of Europe.”

Sir John Banham gave a presentation entitled ‘An overview of a successful UK based manufacturing business’, which examined the success of Johnson Matthey Plc, a speciality chemicals company which focuses its core skills in catalysts, precious metals and fine chemicals.

These two speakers were followed by Geoff Muirhead, who spoke about the aviation industry in relation to globalisation and the fact that travel is a vital part of international trading.

“Connecting people within the UK, the EU and worldwide is critically important,” he said. “Physical communications break down barriers and as many of you will be aware this is particularly important in India, China and in the Far East generally. No amount of emails or video conferencing can replace human contact.”

The second session of the Summit was entitled ‘What will it take for Sheffield and its businesses to be internationally competitive?”

In this session, Dr Peter Skipworth, managing director of SEAMS Ltd, which provides software and services for infrastructure, gave a Sheffield businessman’s view on local factors influencing international competitiveness.

He was joined in the session by Professor John Shutt, from Leeds Metropolitan University, and Joachim Beyer, director of economic and employment promotion in the City of Dortmund.

Professor Shutt spoke of Sheffield’s need to build a greater relationship with Leeds and Manchester in order to create a greater international regional presence.

Joachim Beyer spoke of the lessons that can be learnt from Dortmund and how the economy has changed in the city.

The third session of the Summit was entitled ‘Sheffield’s New Economy’ and was opened by minister of state for industry and the regions, Margaret Hodge. She talked about the regeneration of Sheffield and what could be done to help Sheffield compete globally.

“When you come to a locality like this it is easy to think ‘local’,” said Mrs Hodge. “But you can only think local when you are aware of the context in which it is taking place globally.”

She highlighted the importance of the regional universities and the benefits of using the research from the universities and turning the research into ‘products’. She also talked about the way that businesses could build partnerships with schools in order to encourage schoolchildren into skills-based jobs. 

“Skills is an enormous issue, “ she said, “and businesses have a role to play in encouraging children into engineering jobs.”

Also addressing the audience in this session were Steve Beswick, director of education at Microsoft UK, Sir Robert Kerslake, chief executive of Sheffield City Council and Ian Bromley, chief executive of Creative Sheffield.

The Summit was concluded with a session entitled ‘Towards Regional Economic Autonomy’, in which speeches were given by Tom Riordan, chief executive of Yorkshire Forward, Sir Roger Bone, president of Boeing UK and John Phillips, chair of Business Link South Yorkshire.

In his presentation, Tom Riordan outlined how Sheffield can help Yorkshire and Humber tackle climate change.

He said: “Climate change is probably the biggest challenge facing the global economy. It’s hurtling up the political and business agenda not because the science has suddenly been proven but because consumers are now worried and it’s affecting their decisions.”

He also spoke of the economic growth seen in Sheffield and across the region. He highlighted some of Sheffield’s key achievements, including the fact that the city is in the top six business locations in the UK and that several key businesses including ELG Haniel Metal of Sheffield and Fastalloys of Bradford, have helped the region’s exports grow by a third in the last five years.

The Summit closed with a networking reception which provided delegates with the opportunity to meet fellow business people and discuss the day’s events.