Thompson styles strategy for Yorkshire

A ten-year economic strategy for the whole of Yorkshire and Humberside is being presented in a 150-page document designed by Leeds consultancy Thompson.


The group was appointed by Regional Development Agency Yorkshire Forward following a creative pitch against undisclosed competitors to design both the main report and two accompanying summary documents.


Although the Regional Economic Strategy 2006-2015 aims to improve business competitiveness, transport and communities, Thompson drew on the cultural aspects of the region in its design, according to consultancy managing director Phil Dean. ‘Yorkshire Forward wanted to weave culture into the document as a key element of all the areas it covers,’ he says. ‘We felt that culture touches every single person in the region one way or another,’ he explains.


Thompson commissioned Joolz Denby, the Bradford writer and poet and Orange Prize for Literature nominee, to write a poem inspired by the region. This poem is used in the document alongside bespoke photography to act as a cultural frame for the contents of the economic plan.


Acting as an economic ‘roadmap’ for the next ten years, the strategy’s primary objective is to raise Yorkshire and Humberside’s Gross Domestic Product growth rate above the European average.


The document will be used to attract the attention of a wide range of stakeholders throughout the region, including politicians, business development organisations, public agencies and other community groups.

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