Sheffield City Region leaders bid for capital status

Organised by advisory firm Grant Thornton UK LLP, the Live Lab event at the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield on Thursday will bring together over 200 senior representatives from the private, public and third sectors.

Grant Thornton has chosen Sheffield as the first city to visit in its city events throughout the UK.

Delegates will spend the day suggesting ways to unleash the potential of Sheffield City Region. Key issues include how to attract more inward investment and how Sheffield can retain and nurture young talent.

Technology entrepreneur Lee Strafford, Sheffield City Council chief executive John Mothersole and Grant Thornton chief executive Sacha Romanovitch will attend.

Paul Houghton, partner and head of the Sheffield office at Grant Thornton, said: “We have an ambitious aim for the day, tackling how we can make Sheffield the innovation and creativity capital of Europe. But we believe that if we can get our businesses, community leaders and public sector organisations working together, we can find ways to make this aspiration a reality.

“Our research shows the UK has an untapped business potential to the tune of £469bn.

“In Yorkshire and Humberside, that figure is £60bn, and the Sheffield City Region has a huge part to play in this. If we can help Sheffield’s businesses, communities, and public sector organisations collaborate and tap into the region’s potential, we can shape a creative and innovative whole which is greater than the sum of the parts.

“We’re excited to be kicking off our vibrant economy campaign in Sheffield, in a city brimming with commercial and community potential. Our businesses, educational institutions and social enterprises have helped build an economy to be proud of. But we think that there’s more that we can achieve.

“The event will help us dream, discover and design.”