Tour de Yorkshire knocks it up a gear

Yorkshire businesses congregated last night at an event hosted by Barclays to hear about how they can prepare for the Tour de France 2014.

They were encouraged to utilize opportunities created by the influx of an estimated 3 million visitors to the region.

Tourist agency Welcome to Yorkshire already have hints and tips together with resources available on their website for businesses to use and they encouraged all businesses to think about not just the opportunities but the impact on the weekend of race for deliveries, staffing and customers.

Sandra Corcoran, owner of Pennine Cycles in Bradford said: “As someone that attends the race each year I can’t stress enough what a massive opportunity this is for all Yorkshire businesses who need to start thinking creatively of how they can use the TDF colours and bring the race into their business plans.”

Entrepreneur Caroline Towers talked about how businesses could use social media as a tool to drive business using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram. “Always use hashtags and remember to keep your posts interesting, informative and use an image where you can” she said.

Helen Clarke, Barclays Business Banking Area Manager for Leeds and Bradford said: “Planning ahead is the key to any successful business and all Yorkshire businesses should be reviewing their plans right now for 2014.

“We are working hard to make sure all our customers make the most of this fantastic opportunity which will showcase Yorkshire to 190 countries around the world – we’ll never get a better opportunity to show the world just how great Yorkshire is.”