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Yorkshire’s Tour de France business benefits discussed at Leeds lecture

How businesses can benefit from the Tour de France coming to Yorkshire next year will be discussed when Gary Verity, the chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, visits Leeds Metropolitan University next week.

It’s estimated that the county could benefit from around £100 million in revenue when the event travels through the region and the lecture will advise on what businesses can do to reap the maximum benefits.

The free public lecture, which launches Leeds Met’s 2013/14 business guest lecture series, takes place on Tuesday 17 September from 6-7pm in the Rose Bowl at the University’s City Campus.

Gary, who has been at the helm of Welcome to Yorkshire since 2009, has been responsible for successfully raising the profile of Yorkshire at a regional, national and international level.

He said: “The team at Welcome to Yorkshire have worked hard over the past two years to bring the biggest annual sporting event in the world to Yorkshire. We believe it will have a huge economic impact on our county: conservative estimates have put the figure at around £100m, and we want to make sure as many businesses as possible see the potential and maximise the opportunities.”

Gary, who has a prestigious track record in brand building and managing complex businesses, will share his advice for success. During his 18 years with Royal Insurance he developed a reputation for turning around failing businesses while at Bradford and Bingley’s retail property services arm, Gary quickly turned around four years of losses into profit. He also re-branded Prontaprint and Kall Kwik and is the former managing director of Johnsons Cleaners UK.

Welcome to Yorkshire is widely regarded as one of the leading destination management organisations in the UK and has been hailed by the Government as an example to be followed. It has received international recognition for its marketing campaigns.

Paul Houghton, principal lecturer in accounting and finance at Leeds Met, said: “We are delighted to welcome Gary Verity to open our 2013/14 business guest lecture series. Under his leadership, Welcome to Yorkshire continues to make a real difference, promoting tourism in the region, across the UK and beyond. It will be fascinating to hear what he has to say about Yorkshire staging next year’s Tour de France – which is a real coup for the area. This lecture will be a must for anyone with an interest in the sport and business in our region.”

Places must be booked online at www.leedsmet.ac.uk/guestspeakers

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Addison .