Welcome to Yorkshire ‘not good value for Sheffield’ claims former council leader Lord Scriven

Welcome to Yorkshire took over from the Yorkshire Tourism Board in 2009, and yesterday it was confirmed that the organisation had gone into administration.

The Yorkshire Leaders Board - made up of council leaders and the region's two metro mayors - released a statement yesterday confirming it had decided to stop funding the organisation following a meeting in private.

They said they planned to create a new destination marketing organisation to promote Yorkshire in its place.

It follows scandal over expenses in recent years. Former chief executive Gary Verity left the organisation on health grounds in 2019 amidst concerns about expense spending and the treatment of staff. His successor, James Mason, joined Welcome to Yorkshire in January 2020 but left the organisation last October in the midst of an investigation into an unspecified complaint.

Four board members resigned in connection with Mr Mason's departure and the agency currently has no chief executive but its chairman is former Wakefield Council leader Peter Box.

Lord Scriven, a former Sheffield Council leader, said of Welcome to Yorkshire: “I don’t feel it served Sheffield well. The Tour de Yorkshire was a one off event, but I’m not convinced that over a 10 to 15 year period that we’ve had Welcome to Yorkshire that we have seen enough as a marketing organisation. It should be about the day to day, supporting and marketing South Yorkshire and making sure businesses get the most out of it.

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"For three or four years, it has been all about Welcome to Yorkshire and not the great assets that the county has. When I was leader in 2010 I went on record as saying it wasn’t that great, and that was why we went into partnership with the Peak District National Park to do something. I’m not sure that I can point to anything other than the Tour de Yorkshire that it achieved. What can you point to other than one major event?”

He said he thought it had been a mistake for local councils and public bodies to put more money into it when concerns were raised about the organisation in recent years, and believed what happened today, with the organisation going into administration, was inevitable.

Now he believes something should be brought in more driven by the private sector, who he feels are the people with the expertise in tourism, and which he would like to see providing services to order.

Co-chairman of the Yorkshire Leaders Board, Coun Stephen Houghton, who is leader of Barnsley Council, said following consideration of the views of public and private sector stakeholders on the current arrangements, the board had unanimously agreed that a new approach was needed.

He said: “We all agree that our visitor economy needs a champion, and we will now speak further to our stakeholders to ensure we have an organisation with a clear purpose, that works for all, and is sustainable for the future.”

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