Top Business Leaders On Board To Drive Innovation
Science City York has revealed who will head its newly created company.
Richard Gregory OBE, Yorkshire Bank Chair, becomes Executive Chair of Science City York’s new company limited by guarantee, a joint venture between City of York Council and the University of York.
He is joined by David Dickson, Managing Director of the York and Leeds based accountancy firm Garbutt and Elliott, who will chair a new advisory board comprising several of the city’s business and community leaders.
Simon Hill, Executive Director for Business at Yorkshire Forward also joins the board of Science City York Ltd together with the founding partners, Professor Brian Cantor, Vice-Chancellor of the University of York and City of York Council’s Director of City Strategy, Bill Woolley.
Richard Gregory said: ‘Science City York has an excellent team, led by Project Director Paul Taylor, and I am delighted to be working with them.’
‘The new board structures create an excellent delivery platform for the expansion of Science City York activities to the benefit of the City and surrounding areas.
‘The new company demonstrates the real joint commitment by City of York Council and the University of York and will help focus and drive future expansion. The new advisory board which will be announced shortly will build on the tremendous network of support among business and community leaders which has already served Science City York so well.’
David Dickson added: ‘As the company enters its next phase of development I’m delighted to offer my continued support to the highly professional and committed business development team at Science City York.
‘In my new role I want to bring my wide range of interests and experience in business, drawn from across the region and the UK, to contribute to the sustainable economic development of York and North Yorkshire. We will continue to work extensively with our partners to build a long-term future for businesses across the sub region.’
For almost a decade, Science City York has helped to create, develop and grow businesses which have technology and innovation at their core. To date, the initiative has assisted the creation of 87 new ventures and 2800 jobs.
Professor Brian Cantor said: ‘In Richard Gregory and David Dickson, we have two men of the highest calibre, each with a proven track record, to guide Science City York through this exciting new period in its development. The University of York will continue to play a key role in driving forward Science City York, through the power of our research, the quality of our knowledge transfer and our ability to encourage new and emerging businesses.’
National recognition for York’s technology-base was secured in 2005 as the then-Chancellor Gordon Brown named York as a founding UK science city.
The collective experience and influence of Science City York’s leadership will drive forward York and North Yorkshire’s position as a world-leader for enterprise in science and technology.
‘York successfully led the national agenda, establishing a model which has become the foundation of the six National Science Cities announced by the Chancellor,’ said Simon Hill.
Simon continued ‘This latest development will enable our region to ensure that it stays at the forefront of the use of Science as a major driver of economic growth.’
Bill Woolley said ‘Science City York has been a crucially important factor in the success of York's economy over the last 9 years and we now have the opportunity to build on that success with the new company. The council fully expects to see more long term sustainable job opportunities for our residents and for the new company to play its full part in our future success.’
Pictured from left: David Dickson, Richard Gregory, Simon Hill, Brian Cantor, Bill Woolley, and company secretary Philip Lewis Ogden.
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