Election 2015: West Yorkshire businesses have their say

Bdaily is continuing to ask businesses from each area of Yorkshire about what they want and expect from the forthcoming general election, in a weekly roundup.

As mentioned last week, more than 100 of the country’s most senior business figures, a number of whom are based in Yorkshire, signed a letter to back Conservatives over the economy.

Therefore Bdaily is trying is uncover if Labour is losing significant support from the region they are so used to dominating.

After asking businesses in North Yorkshire for their thoughts, Bdaily wanted to find out the hopes and expectations of businesses in West Yorkshire as it is just under three weeks until the most important day in British politics

Shane Quigley, CEO of Earth Bathrooms, a Leeds-based e-commerce business which launched earlier this year, commented:

“In my opinion the HS2 rail network between Leeds and London should be scrapped - the small gain in time simply doesn’t justify the enormous cost. Instead, the government should be investing in joining up northern cities with more efficient rail and road infrastructure. One of the key reasons London is a huge success as a city is not because it’s population is more talented, but simply because it has a larger concentration of talent near enough to commute to the city centre. This means business growth and innovation isn’t held back due to a lack of talented employees, as can be the case in some smaller northern cities. If we were to super-connect the North, we could foster a second London that would seriously boost not just the North but the UK’s economic position globally.

“When I’m considering which way to vote I use the guiding principle that a large, controlling government is ineffective and restricts economic growth. We need a government that believes in reducing taxes and government spend, focusing spend only on critical services like the NHS and Police force and then, where possible, let market forces drive the growth needed to support areas like local roads and non-emergency services. By giving Yorkshire businesses the opportunity to thrive, and grow their employee base, we can help rebuild and fund investment in the region.”

Sarah Dear, the managing director of Elmwood, a brand design consultancy based in Leeds, said:

“In many ways the general election couldn’t have come at a worse time - the economy is just starting to show the green shoots of growth and people and companies starting to feel more positive about the future and we are seeing this with the businesses we work with. But this sense of hope is a very fragile thing that needs careful nurturing. For this reason I believe the best outcome for business and for the economy would be no change in the current political leadership of the country. This means the positive momentum can continue. But should we have to start over with new shoes under the cabinet table and a new direction this will cause uncertainty that in my view will undoubtedly put the recovery bacck.

“Elmwood is a creative design business – our business is to think differently to solve problems. Most of the political parties are much of a muchness when it comes to valuing the impact that creativity can have on the success of a country - which is that they value it very little across the board.

“The world is changing extremely fast and we need a leader that will embrace this. We need new approaches and new thinking to make sure Britain doesn’t just keep up but leads the way.

“We are currently in danger of falling behind if we don’t change faster and think in new ways. We are seeing growing economies placing a much bigger emphasis on design and creativity, South Korea for example places huge emphasis in this area and has seen unprecedented growth as a result. We need a Government that can recognise the benefits of this and draw on the huge wealth of creative talent that is available in this country.

“The UK has some big challenges to face when it comes to changing. We have processes and institutions and ways of doing things that were right for the 19th century that are not fit for purpose in the new world. We need some big creative ideas to solve them. As it stands, there is no political party that is offering anything other than tweaking around the edges.

“It is without question that creative thinking needs to be put high up on the country’s agenda and any political party that supports this would get my vote.”

Brandon Ackroyd, Head of Customer Insight for Tiger Mobiles, added:

“My big hope for election is that whoever gets into Downing Street has it in them to take on the banking sector and reform it. The Bank of England and the too big to fail banks are the main reason we live in the land of debt. We need to move back to free market capitalism if we’re ever going to be competitive again. Whoever gets in there needs to start asking themselves why is the poverty gap in this country widening and what can be done about it?

“N.B. it certainly won’t be solved by hanging out with their banker buddies in Soho. The economy is a complex puzzle right now but things have to start by reforming the banking sector, lending to small / medium businesses again in the manufacturing industry, raising interest rates to reward savers and stop selling off assets that line of the pockets of foreign pensions funds. That should see take home pay rise.

“I don’t hold out much hope though, all we’ve seen so far from the major parties are election gimmicks to win votes. None of the parties seem able to present the facts; they’re more interested in coming up with glossed over policies to appease certain interest groups; take for example the ponzi scheme like help to buy schemes that only really exploit the knowledge gap between the first time buyer and the Westminster elite.”

Next week, we will be asking South Yorkshire businesses to comment on the upcoming election. Send any comments along to nick.hill@bdaily.co.uk.

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