Make It York Annual Review 2015/16

Annual Review 2015/2016

York is what we

02 | MAKEITYORK.COM

Entrepreneurial We will champion new ideas We will deliver great results We will always be improving

Collaborative We will thrive on partnership We will share our resources We will empower our teams

Respectful We will put customers first We will do what we say We will be true to our city

Ambitious We will help make York the best place it can be We will make MIY the best company it can be We will become the best team we can be

Email your input to: feedback@makeityork.com

MAKEITYORK.COM | 03

Introduction At our launch event in May 2015, I talked about our desire to ensure that Make It York adds value and about our ambition to help grow and develop the city and surrounding area in a quantifiable way. Our purpose, working collaboratively with businesses, is to develop and promote York – nationally and internationally - as a vibrant and attractive place to live, visit, study, work and do business.

Jane Lady Gibson Chair Make It York chair@makeityork.com

Year one for Make It York was always going to be about getting a brand new organisation to function effectively, given the challenge of bringing 6 previously separate activities together.

Make It York staff and volunteers have responded brilliantly and have worked really hard to live up to our founding values: to be responsive, collaborative, entrepreneurial and ambitious.

Entrepreneurial means doing some things differently.

The way we organised the York Christmas Festival is a good example of how we’ll continually look at things through fresh eyes.

One year on, we’re asking businesses to tell us whether we have made a difference.

I am pleased that feedback so far has been positive and that our colleagues and stakeholders can point to examples of how we have created new opportunities

Collaborative is about working with people for the benefit of York. Over the last twelve months we have partnered with many different organisations, often working behind the scenes to help make things happen.

Respectful means doing what we say and I hope Make It York is developing a reputation for reliability and being a trusted organisation to deal with.

Ambitious is about aiming high and trying out new things.

As Make It York matures and develops more of a track record, our ambitions will grow and, in our second year, we’ll continue to work hard to deliver new and largescale initiatives for the city.

and unblocked a few log jams too. We have introduced businesses to new partners, set up new initiatives that have increased exposure to new markets and made connections into new funding streams for York and Yorkshire businesses.

territory the organisation is responsible for and we have shaped a budgeting and accounts process that is accurate and responsive. In our first year we’ve been busy getting into the heart of the detail whilst being ambitious and innovative too.

Our board changed a bit as we welcomed a new Leader and Chief Executive to City of York Council, our shareholder.

Managing Director, Steve Brown, has given extensive feedback on our progress to the CYC Shareholder Committee, which is livestreamed regularly for all who are interested in our progress.

There are challenges ahead and areas where we still need to make progress. I am, however, very proud of our first year’s achievements and have received external feedback that Make It York is in the right place at the right time. Next May I hope that we will have even more evidence of how our support has made a difference to you and your endeavours.

We have held 7 board meetings where we’ve discussed the detail of the

This Annual Review gives you a flavour of what we’ve been up to in our formative year.

It details activity across six different areas: Visit York, Science City York, inward investment, business support, events and festivals and city centre management.

We have had terrific support from across the city and we remain totally committed to developing and promoting York and giving as much support as possible to the local business community.

Steve Brown Managing Director Make It York steve.brown@makeityork.com

04 | MAKEITYORK.COM

York City of Festivals York is building on its reputation as a Festival City.

The aim is to help improve the quality of festivals, support organisers and develop new events.

Make It York delivered a range of festivals in 2015...

20,000

people took part in the Residents Festival

illuminating York attracted

50,000 visitors

York St Nicholas Christmas Festival was improved and extended

Festival organisers from across the city delivered the best annual programme yet...

At Easter, a collaboration with Little Vikings, York Food Festival and York’s Chocolate Festival offered family entertainment at the city’s very first family friendly Easter Festival.

In 2015 a new festival was welcomed to the city - the Great Yorkshire Fringe – bringing with it a new, younger audience and creating a buzz in Parliament Street with its beautiful Spiegeltents.

illuminating York attracted 50,000 people and 7 new artworks were commissioned.

This included the unusual sight of mirror balls on Shambles and illuminated mechanical owls in the Museum Gardens.

York Literature Festival was supported with new sponsorship and with Michael Portillo headlining at a sell-out event at the National Railway Museum

York St Nicholas Christmas Festival was improved and extended with new elements such as Thor’s Tipi and an Ice Trail, supported by thirty York businesses. For the first time, the festival ran for six weeks.

20,000 people took part in the annual Residents Festival in January.

York Food and Drink Festival returned in September with street stalls, demonstrations and special events. The city centre team helped ensure the city was used for the festival in the best way possible.

The BAFTA qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival had its most successful year, again bringing new audiences

from overseas and across the UK. This was supported by a ticket hub in the Visit York Information Centre.

JORVIK Viking Festival, York Festival of Ideas and York Early Music Festival all enjoyed sellout performances. And a new initiative, ‘Vespertine’, created a series of early evening arts events drawing new audiences into York to experience everything from breadboard orchestras to electronic music in The Cold War Bunker.

York’s Festival programme has never been so strong.

If you’re an event or festival organiser please get in touch to find out how we can help support your plans.

Contact: Debbie Bell Events and Festivals Officer debbie.bell@makeityork.com

MAKEITYORK.COM | 05

JORVIK Viking Festival: February York Literature Festival: March York Easter Festival – March/April York Open Studios: April Fashion City York: April Racing: May – October Late Music Festival: Summer York Mystery Plays: May/June Eboracum Roman Festival: June Festival of Ideas: June Great Yorkshire Fringe: July York Early Music Festival: July/December JORVIK Group’s Medieval Summer: August York Food and Drink Festival: September illuminating York: October Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF): November St Nicholas Christmas Festival: November/December

06 | SCY.CO.UK

The best way to back business is by backing science Chancellor George Osborne

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Science City York As the UK’s founding Science City, Science City York (SCY) is committed to supporting three key networks: Bioscience, Creative and IT/Digital.

SCY recognises that York has major Bioscience strength within the UK. This was further enhanced in the 2015 Autumn spending review, with a government announcement of £50m of funding for a new Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock (CIEL) and a Centre for Crop Health and Protection (CHAP), both to be sited at Sand Hutton.

Linked to this, SCY has worked with the YNYER Local Enterprise Partnership to create an online platform enabling the Agri-Food Network to share knowledge and ideas.

SCY will also be partnering with FERA to support the agri food sector with a £1.7million business support programme.

From June 2016, in partnership with York St John University and University of York, there will be a new quarterly Technology Digest series presenting the latest key technologies. And in a move towards more collaborative working, five Translational Science Projects, enabling the three networks to work together to produce new innovations, will be showcased at Venturefest Yorkshire 2016.

SCY will lead on Venturefest Yorkshire, to provide inspiration, support and investment for entrepreneurs and business managers in science, technology, creative and high growth businesses.

Filmyork.org With Mad As Birds Films, SCY supported this new platform that will provide a ‘one-stop shop’ for anyone looking to choose York as a filming location.

Since Venturefest began over 14,000 people have attended and an estimated £5.4million has subsequently been injected into the regional economy through direct outputs - an estimated £22.5million of GVA via deals done and investments created.

GAMBIT A world first £700k Game App – designed to enhance the visitor experience using live data and interacting with York’s attractions, SCY is a key partner in a consortia developing this world-first app, including Bosch and ARUP.

Working with Innovate UK, Venturefest Yorkshire 2016 will take place 16 November, with an unwavering focus on innovation and entrepreneurship.

DotYork – 8 June 2016 For the first time SCY will be the headline sponsor for this annual digital conference for curious minds.

742

business interactions

557

businesses attended 20 plus events

8,042

social media followers Contact: Heather Niven Head of Science City York heather.niven@scy.co.uk

08 | YORKMEANSBUSINESS.CO.UK

During a stressful time when our shop premises were flooded on Boxing Day we were grateful for all the help and assistance offered

by Make It York. They were easy to contact, offering us clear advice and the team went above and beyond to help which made a huge difference to us.

Phil and Lynne O’Dea MOR Music, Fossgate, York

YORKMEANSBUSINESS.CO.UK | 09

York Means Business

£487k

made available to 162 flood affected businesses Supported over

400

individual businesses Business seminars attended by over

235

delegates

In 2015/16 the York Means Business team supported over 400 individual businesses with help and advice on start-up and growth, access to finance, skills and training, recruitment and international trade and property search.

Responding to the Boxing Day flooding, Make It York helped businesses across York and North Yorkshire to access flood recovery funding, facilitating awards worth £487,000 for 162 businesses.

Working with private sector partners a range of business seminars were delivered to 235 delegates, with topics including social media and marketing, IT, HR, accessing public sector procurement,

access to finance and investment readiness.

York’s inward investment ‘story’ has been brought up to date. By launching a new web portal and ‘soft landing’ package, as well as a new brochure, Make It York can assist incoming businesses with access to all kinds of support from accountancy and legal advice to bespoke packages for a range of business premises.

Working as a partner to Hiscox, the team helped launch the Hiscox Business Club, providing 29 small businesses, employing over 70 people, with the opportunity to work in a dynamic, collaborative environment.

Broadcast on Vale Radio online and available as a podcast, a new weekly ‘York Business Hour’ was set up to provide a voice for businesses operating in York.

Traders in Acomb, Micklegate and Fossgate were supported to learn from the hugely successful ‘Bishy Road’ initiative, assisting independent businesses in York in joining together to promote and develop their offer.

The property enquiry service was developed, improving access to property information and handling 131 property enquiries, helping businesses find the right location for their needs.

On Small Business Saturday, 24 businesses from across the city showcased their products – attracting 17,000 visitors in one day.

Businesses accessed over £398,000 of Investment Finance to help them start, grow and deliver skills or training.

Contact: Andrew Sharp, Head of Business andrew.sharp@ makeityork.com

10 | CITYOFMEDIAARTS.COM

UNESCO City of Media Arts In December 2015 York celebrated its one year anniversary of being designated a UNESCO City of Media Arts.

The motivation to apply for designation was rooted in international ambition.

Conceived as a once-in-ageneration opportunity to raise the social, cultural and economic standing of York, it would benefit everybody in the city for decades to come. York is now connected to 116 leading cities from 54 countries, covering seven creative fields; crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, literature, music and media arts.

With designation, the ambition is now to double the size of York’s thriving creative economy from £164.8million to £329.6million by 2025 and York’s new Economic Strategy has the creative industries at its heart.

The story so far:

A new Digital Adventurers initiative for young people has been launched.

collections objects are now free to download.

University of York opened an £18million Digital Creativity Hub.

University of York led a £200million deal with China to provide TV and film courses to 300 overseas students.

‘The Yorkshire Studios’ opened - Screen Yorkshire opened this major new film and TV studio space on the outskirts of York.

The UK’s first Guild of Media Arts has been formed and already has over 150 members.

Aesthetica – art, design and photography publication - took centre stage in Apple’s 2015 keynote speech to showcase the next version of OS.

A new Media Arts Award will inspire the next generation of creative talent in the city.

York Museums Trust led the way in digital openness and all 150,000 online

York is one of the UK’s first super-connected cities.

Three future priorities: Building the Guild into a credible force, an asset for the city.

Embedding media arts into the local education agenda.

Creating the Mediale, an international media arts festival, in 2018.

The UK National Commission for UNESCO welcomes this excellent initiative from York to establish a new international festival.

It proposes to showcase York’s innovative digital and creative vision, cultivate participation with local people, and fulfil the commitment to UNESCO to take an active part in the Creative Cities global network.

Tim Williams, Chair of the UK National Commission for UNESCO

To join the Guild of Media Arts: cityofmediaarts.com

YORKCULTUREAWARDS.COM | 11

I’m thrilled to be able to support the York Culture Awards and all those involved. York is such a culturally rich city, with the arts being at the forefront of a lot of community activity. These York Culture Awards will help showcase lots of local talent, from artists to musicians, actors to playwrights. I’m especially interested to encourage local schools and community groups to submit an entry.

Mark Addy Actor

York Culture Awards 2016 Home grown actor Mark Addy will be patron for the new York Culture Awards. Sponsored by York-based Benenden, The York Culture Awards, being held on 1 December 2016, will celebrate excellence in the arts and cultural sector and reward outstanding innovation, creativity and quality.

York Culture Awards 2016: Headline Sponsor: Benenden “Benenden has been based in York for just over a quarter of a century, so we know just how vital the cultural sector is to the local economy we are a part of. Our city’s culture plays an important part in bringing together communities, which is an ethos we have much in common with.”

Lawrence Christensen Group Marketing Director, Benenden

Grateful thanks to the award judges: Professor Chris Bailey York St John University, Professor Judith Buchanan University of York, Gill Greaves Relationship Manager Museums Yorkshire at Arts Council England, Colin Jackson Owner Creative Learning Partnerships, Charles Hutchinson Arts Editor The Press, Alan Millard Chief Operating Officer Hiscox and Dr Fiona Thompson York St John University.

Free to enter, there will be eleven awards to be won: Community Project or Event Cultural Champion Cultural Education Cultural Equality & Diversity Cultural Event or Festival Culture Partnership Film Performing Artist Production Visual Artist Writer Contact: Kim Barron-Smith Events Manager, kim.barronsmith@makeityork.com

12 | VISITYORK4MEETINGS.COM

VisitYork4Meetings 2000

delegates attended the Liberal Democrat Conference

Enquiry value increased by 74% to

£2.5m York welcomed international business visitors from Qatar, Japan and Israel Contact: Laura Freer Business Tourism Manager laura.freer@makeityork.com

In 2015/16 VisitYork4Meetings generated £500,000 worth of direct conference and events business.

Some of the organisations worked with include: Institute of Physics, Renewable Resources & Biorefineries Conference – RRB11, British Marine Federation, European Society of Musculoskeletal Radiology (ESSR), National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), Magistrates Association, EDF Energy and Thea Pharmaceuticals.

The number and value of conference enquiries were increased, processing 449 enquiries with an

estimated value of £2.5million - an increase of 74% compared to 2014/15.

Together with venue partners, three trade shows were attended: International CONFEX, The Meetings Show and Square Meal Venues & Events, generating a total of 326 new leads.

International delegates travelled to York from Europe, China, India, Israel, Japan, Rep of Korea, New Zealand, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, the United

Arab Emirates and the United States of America.

built conference venues in Visit York membership.

The bid to host the 2016 Liberal Democrats Spring Conference 11 – 13 March was successful.

The conference attracted 2,000 delegates to York over the three days using three host venues and accommodation providers, generating an ecomonic impact in excess of £1million.

The following conference organisers will bring their events to York in 2016/17: Kirona Solutions Ltd, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Association Of Chartered Physiotherapists for People with Learning Disabilities, The British Society of Neuroradiologists, The International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation and Royal College of Anaesthetists.

Hazlewood Castle, Countess of York and the Gallery at the National Railway Museum, The De Grey Rooms, The Little Theatre - Escrick Park Estate, 230 Fairmount House, Piccolino, Revolution and Forest Works at Cropton joined the portfolio of over 100 unique, historic and purpose

Looking ahead, Make It York is working with partners to target York’s key business sectors, including creative, IT/ digital, the rail industry and biosciences, to bring related conferences to the city.

VISITYORK.ORG/MEMBERS | 13

Visit York Membership A world of opportunity for your business…

Visit York is a part of Make It York and is the leisure tourism brand. The aim is to market York as a must-see, world-class destination to the leisure visitor, ensure investment in tourism and support local businesses. With over 750 members, this private sector support is invaluable to the company, enabling yearround marketing campaigns and partnership work across the city and beyond.

Over the last year 142 new members were welcomed including: hotels, B&Bs, self-catering establishments, restaurants, cafes, bars, pubs, retailers, attractions, tours and business services such as accountants, designers, printers and solicitors.

Twenty member events have been hosted, including: training workshops, networking events and showcases of new attractions, exhibitions, hotels and restaurants.

There are now 20 exclusive

Member Deals and some new benefits include:

online and in-print, a quality marque for customers.

• Use of a maintenance portal with over 40 local tradespeople through York Property Services • Discounts on mystery shopping with customer insight experts Shopper Anonymous • Free legal helpline with Ware & Kay solicitors

Key Member Benefits: • The opportunity to work with an expert tourism team and benefit from marketing, social media and PR campaigns • Your business promoted to half a million visitors through the Visit York Visitor Centre • Exposure to two million unique users of visityork.org annually • Millions of copies of the Visit York Mini Guide and visitor guides distributed globally • Access to and support from VisitYork4Meetings; Make It York’s business tourism team • Advice and support from the Make It York Business Team • Networking and training events

Visit York Members also enjoy numerous special offers through the Perks Card, access to free images, free recruitment advertising at jobsinyork.com, two free York Passes and a host of exclusive benefits. Members also receive a Visit York plaque and sticker to display at their business and can use the logo

The regular events staged are invaluable and it’s great to be part of such a pro-active tourism network.

Strong marketing tools including the fabulous informative website and new-look Visitor Guide are brilliant for my business and we are proud to be members of Visit York.

Melanie Paris York Stay Holidays

Keen to join or make more of your membership? The new 2016 rate card and benefits brochure are available at visityork.org/members Contact: PJ Edgar Membership Executive pj.edgar@makeityork.com

14 | VISITYORK.ORG

Reaching our customers Marketing world-class York Three year tourism campaign delivers £60million spend As part of the Regional Growth Fund initiative, and in partnership with VisitEngland on its ‘Growing Tourism Locally’ campaign, an estimated £60 million incremental spend for York and an additional 1,115 jobs over three years have been generated.

York - the original city adventure Reacting quickly following the Boxing Day flooding, businesses and partners worked with Make It York to spread the

#Yorkopen4business message.

A post flood recovery campaign was quickly launched with £350,000 of funding secured from Government, City of York Council, North Yorkshire County Council and Virgin

Trains East Coast. Make It York is determined to build on this work and the ‘York – The Original City Adventure’ campaign will be rolled out throughout 2016/2017.

Taste York – 2015/16 A new Taste York campaign was launched to showcase the city’s food and drink offer, sponsored by York Festival of Food and Drink. Masterchef’s Gregg Wallace was recruited to present the new Taste York video and proved popular with visitors with over 200,000 views.

Reaching customers overseas Agent North – supported by the Northern Tourism Growth Fund, a new online travel agent training programme and toolkit for the North was developed and is now available in 5 versions for the United States, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and China. 200 new bookable products are included in this toolkit.

Contact: Kate McMullen Head of Consumer Products and Marketing kate.mcmullen@ makeityork.com

VISITYORK.ORG | 15

Meeting face to face with the travel trade At VisitBritain coordinated events, the tourism team met with hundreds of overseas tour operators, making sure the city is added to 2016/17 travel itineraries and programmes: Destination Britain America Destination Britain China The Australia Sales Mission Vakantiebeurs in The Netherlands ITB Berlin VisitBritain Explore GB, Liverpool The York Pass sightseeing card was improved and over 10,000 passes were sold New QR coded system implemented using mobile technology New line up for 2016 with more North Yorkshire attractions York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery and Yorkshire Museum rejoined the Pass 3 day pass can now be used over 6 days New vendor opportunities – a chance for businesses to earn commission on sales Read all about it…

8 publications printed, over 1 million distributed…

100,000 York Visitor Guides were produced, packed full of new imagery and editorial 150,000 copies of events guides were produced and distributed, including guides to Christmas, Easter and illuminating York A new-look Conference Guide was distributed to 7,000 event organisers 1 million copies of the York Mini Guide were published and distributed through more channels than ever before

Award-winning Visitor Centre 450,000 visitors were welcomed in ten different languages 8 staff and thirty volunteers helped visitors 362 days of the year New services were introduced including currency exchange and improved events and attractions ticketing in partnership with Web Ticket Manager A new range of locally sourced merchandise was added

Research data is available from: Zoe Rawson, Research Executive zoe.rawson@makeityork.com

Annual visitor spend £608million up by 6% (from £573million)*

www.visityork.org Visits to the new mobile website increased year on year by a huge 90%. Visits to the site via desktops continued to decrease slightly, demonstrating that more people are accessing information on the move.

2 million unique users of visityork.org New mobile site saw traffic grow by 90% New mobile Events App Social media following grew to over 40,000 (across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest) 7 days in York e-newsletter launched – around 50,000 York residents now receive weekly updates on what’s on Regular York updates and newsletters sent to over 80,000 potential visitors in the UK and around the world

Annual visitor numbers (leisure and business) 6.8million up by 1.5%*

Number of jobs 20,300 up by 6% (from 19,000)*

*Economic Impact Model 2014

16 | VISITYORK.ORG/MEDIA

Public Relations A year round PR campaign puts York firmly on the media map across the globe. Quirky ideas and proactive campaigns have ensured York is talked about online, in print and through broadcast media, both in the UK and overseas.

This year, for the first time, a blogger campaign was organised to generate real time blogging content for York. And on the international front journalists from over fifty quality media titles were hosted, as part of a partnership with VisitEngland and the new #lovethenorth campaign.

Extensive film and broadcast coverage has also put the city firmly in the spotlight.

A few highlights from a busy year...

BBC Breakfast broadcasted live from York at Christmas.

York was beamed into the homes of millions of Australians, when their number 1 breakfast show, Sunrise Breakfast TV, came to film.

On World Instagram Day Visit York partnered with VisitBritain to live-post York,

involving 60 countries and more than 75 Instagram influencers (IGers) in a #helloworldRELAY.

way around York, reaching half a million consumers in Asia and leading to a large group booking from China.

America’s hit TV programme ‘The Ellen Show’ filmed from York in February.

Helping families in Yorkshire #holidaysmatter

The much loved Belgian Travel Show iComme filmed the JORVIK Viking Festival.

Indian Masterchef winner Ms Shipra Khanna was hosted.

Award-winning travel and videographers, the Vagabrothers, were invited to film in York, inspiring their US and global viewers to book their next trip to York.

Khattaf Sisters; Social Influencers from Kuwait, vlogged and blogged their

In 2015 Make It York partnered with the Family Holiday Association to enable struggling families on low incomes to take a day trip to York, using the York Pass. In total 227 adults and children (57 Yorkshire families) enjoyed a day trip to York.

For the first time this year a new partnership with YHA York will enable forty families to take a two night overnight break in the city.

Contact: Kay Hyde Head of PR & Corporate Communications kay.hyde@makeityork.com

£6m

of media exposure generated

An audience reach of over

288m 100 media visits hosted

VISITYORK.ORG/MEDIA | 17

Why visit York? To explore 2,000 years of history in a few square miles...

Will Hide, Sunday Times

18 | THEYORKBID.COM

York BID – Securing a bright future for a world-class city Following more than a year of consultation with businesses across York, a resounding 76% YES vote was secured to establish a Business Improvement District for York (BID). The BID will be business-led and has the full backing of City of York Council and Make It York.

A not-for-profit BID company has now been formed to carry out a wide range of improvements for York city centre from April 2016, led by newly appointed BID Executive Director, Andrew Lowson.

Establishing the BID will create a fund of about £4m to spend on projects and services over the next five years, with the

money being raised through a 1% levy on the rateable value of each business in the city centre.

Make It York and the BID will work seamlessly together from the same building. This will avoid duplication and ensure daily collaboration.

Key priorities for the York BID in 2016 will be: Appearance and environment – ensuring the city’s appearance is enhanced and continually improves.

Safety and Security – working with partners to create a vibrant, welcoming and family friendly city.

Events and Festivals – develop with partners a quality year round festival programme.

Business Support – provide a strong collective voice for 1,000 businesses in the city.

The York BID is a fabulous opportunity to ensure York punches above its weight, makes improvements to its city-scape and continues to be a world-class city destination. We will now respond to the wishes of York businesses, ensuring we have a set of clear priorities for the next five years Adam Sinclair Chairman

Contact: Andrew Lowson, Executive Director, York BID andrew.lowson@theyorkbid.com

SHAMBLESMARKET.COM | 19

Shambles Market, City Centre and Events When Make It York was formed one of the biggest tasks was to revitalise the city centre market. It’s clear that this has been no easy task, with every marketplace in the country facing similar challenges.

The aim is to develop the Shambles Market as an asset for the city, making it a ‘go to’ destination for both residents and visitors alike.

To achieve this, working with market traders, massive improvements need to be made. The market needs bringing alive with fun,

atmosphere, music and events and crucially needs support from the local community.

Shambles market has already experienced quite a few changes this last year with a lot of the original refurbishment issues completed, improving the look of the area and resulting in a nomination for a

Contact: Chris Price City Centre and Markets Manager chris.price@makeityork.com

market design award. A new Food Court area was added, with Shambles Kitchen being the most recent arrival.

2015 saw the successful introduction of evening markets in the area close to Kings Square. These were an instant hit with visitors and residents and traders reported their best trading days ever.

These will be reintroduced for the lighter summer nights.

a regular fixture, bringing an outdoor café and dining experience to the area.

Trader events included the monthly Farmers’ Market, as well as a number of new Vintage Markets. A new Art in the Market event in 2016, with music and entertainment, will also be added.

The evening markets were located by the Shambles Tavern, who opened their doors facing onto the market for the first time and are now

Better signage was one of the key priorities and the display of archive Shambles photographs on a previously uninspiring wall of the market, has improved the ambience still further, with more improvements to come.

Filming in York...

A few highlights:

Make It York facilitates filming across York, working with production teams to co-ordinate compliance, logistics, road closures and any issues affecting York businesses and residents.

Multiple television broadcasts for Channel 5, ITV, Channel 4, BBC 1: including, Look North, BBC Breakfast News and Songs of Praise Period dramas: ‘Victoria’ (ITV), ‘To Walk Invisible’ (BBC) 2 Feature Films: ‘Scott and Sid’ (directed by Scott Elliott) and ‘The Correspondence’ (directed by Giuseppe Tornatore) 30+ student films (liaising with York universities)

Liaising with Screen Yorkshire and Creative England, the past year has seen an increase in filming enquiries, from television and drama to full length feature films.

20 | SPACEHIVE.COM/INITIATIVES/YORK

Make a Beeline to the York Hive Make It York launched York’s crowdfunding platform in March at the city’s historic Bedern Hall. This new initiative is a part of Spacehive, a national crowdfunding platform with a mission to make it as easy as possible for as many people as possible to bring their civic environment to life.

The crowdfunding concept works by providing tools that help people to develop their project ideas, get noticed and attract funding to make great local projects happen. The York Hive will enable local people to see York projects online and pledge as little as £2 to make a project happen.

The first six York projects are: Micklegate Soap Box Challenge Hamilton Panthers Clubhouse Rigg Monument Abundance at Edible York York Arts Barge Proudly Indie York “The Rigg Monument was in a bad state of repair. Now we’re delighted to be the first successful York Hive project and, having reached our funding target, our aim is to restore this important piece of York history and family memorial to ensure it is recognised once more as a monument of national importance.”

David Fraser, Chief Executive, York Civic Trust

“It’s brillant news the Arts Barge Project has achieved its target. Our aim to create a floating arts venue for York is now one step closer to a reality.”

Marcia Mackey Arts Barge Director

Contact: Nick Greatrex, Partnerships Manager nick.greatrex@makeityork.com

SPACEHIVE.COM/INITIATIVES/YORK | 21

We all share our spaces and places, and whether it’s a one-day festival or a re-fit of a building, when people come together to make something happen, the sky is the limit.

That’s really the secret of crowdfunding, it’s about local communities getting together online to turn ideas into reality.

Niraj Dattani Head of Community Development, Spacehive

“A new chapter in York’s history is being created with the Hive by enabling communities to turn their ideas into a reality,” Roger Lee, Visit York Tourism Ambassador and Director, Bedern Hall

22 | MAKEITYORK.COM

Make It York strategic priorities 2016 and beyond

MAKEITYORK.COM | 23

10 Strategic priorities for Make It York in 2016...

Concentrate business tourism activity – conferences and events – on York’s core sectors

Maximise the leisure tourism opportunity through ongoing, exceptional marketing and PR

Maximise business support for York’s high growth sectors, start-up businesses and small business clusters

Move our focus from reactive to more proactive inward investment work

Work with the BID to enhance the quality and quantity of festivals and events

Provide tangible support and encouragement to the cultural sector

Support the new Guild of Media Arts to deliver the Mediale and the education partnership

Work with universities and colleges to assist student recruitment and enhance the student experience in York

Make a step-change in the image and the performance of Shambles Market

Focus Science City York activity on four key projects, supporting the bioscience, IT/digital and creative sectors

Launch a new two-year marketing campaign, “York – the original city adventure”, to be at the heart of tourism promotion for York, North Yorkshire and surrounding area

Re-develop the Visit York website – www.visityork.org - to make it fully responsive and a world-class online destination guide

Some specifics: Deliver a ‘best ever’ Venturefest for Yorkshire – 16 November, York Racecourse

Play a meaningful role in the effort to bring York Central to fruition

Deliver a successful inaugural York Culture Awards event – 1 December, Central Methodist Church

Add to the York St Nicholas Christmas Festival programme and specifically support small and independent York traders

Create a funding plan to enable the Mediale to become a reality in 2018

Enable York Hive to become a significant resource for community fund-raising projects

Create a new ambassador programme to help promote inward investment

Launch a new student guide to help enrich the student experiences in York: “100 things you must do while in York”

24 | MAKEITYORK.COM

Board of Directors Jane Lady Gibson Chair Make It York

Steve Brown Managing Director Make It York

Professor Chris Bailey Cultural Policy Consultant

Peter Clinker, Head of Property and Facilities Management UK and Ireland, NestlĂŠ

Joan Concannon Head of External Relations University of York

Mark Fordyce Managing Director York Data Services

Sally Joynson Chief Executive Screen Yorkshire

Paul Kirkman Managing Director National Railway Museum

Professor Karen Stanton Vice Chancellor York St John University

Councillor Chris Steward Leader City of York Council

Board Advisors

Steve Stewart Chief Executive City of York Council

Philip Thake Chief Executive York Conservation Trust

James Farrar Chief Operating Officer YNYER LEP

Lyndsey Swift Head of Strategic Partnerships and Engagement, VisitEngland

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Management Team Kate McMullen Head of Consumer Products and Marketing kate.mcmullen@makeityork.com Andrew Sharp Head of Business andrew.sharp@makeityork.com

Michelle Brown Marketing Manager (Leisure) michelle.brown@makeityork.com Rebecca Francis Commercial Manager rebecca.francis@makeityork.com Laura Freer Business Tourism Marketing Manager laura.freer@makeityork.com Karen Gordon Visitor Centre Manager karen.gordon@makeityork.com Nick Greatrex Partnerships Manager nick.greatrex@makeityork.com Kay Hyde Head of PR and Corporate Communications kay.hyde@makeityork.com Suzy Johnson Visitor Centre Manager suzy.johnson@makeityork.com Heather Niven Head of Science City York heather.niven@makeityork.com Chris Price City Centre and Markets Manager chris.price@makeityork.com Charles Storr Economy and Enterprise Manager charles.storr@makeityork.com THE MAKE IT YORK TEAM

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Grateful thanks to all our sponsors and partners Many thanks to all the sponsors and partners for their generous support throughout the year. Dozens of businesses from across the private and public sector have worked with Make It York to add value and enhance York’s product offer.

Over £100,000 of sponsorship was generated in the first year, enabling a range of new initiatives and events, enjoyed by thousands of residents, visitors and students alike and benefiting the city’s economy.

York Culture Awards Headline Sponsor: Benenden Rushbond, Leeds Bradford Airport in association with British Airways, Native Architects, University of York, Explore York Library, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York St John University, Yorkshire House Developments One Ltd Visit York Tourism Awards 2015 Be Independent, City of York Council, Fulprint, FR Fowler & Son, Minster FM, Morrell Middleton, P&O Ferries, Santander, Saville AV, Streamline Taxis, The Video Agency, Webmart, York North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership, York Data Services

Visit York Tourism Conference A Fresh View, Be Independent, Best of Britain Holidays, Bettys, CityConnect Wi-Fi, Fulprint, HR Dept, Santander, Shopper Anonymous, Signarama, Top Screen Media, Yorkshire Day Tours York Ice Trail Headline Sponsor: Yorkshire Water Banyan York, Bettys, Bishy Road Traders Association, Bradley’s Jewellers, CityConnect Wi-Fi, Coppergate Centre, English Heritage, Explore York Library, Fenwick, Hotel du Vin, Kennedy’s, Monkbar Hotel, National Railway Museum, Pavers, Chapter House at Royal York Hotel, TalkTalk Ultra Fibre Optic Broadband, Turtle Bay, Shambles Market, The Grand Hotel & Spa, The Judges Lodging, The York Dungeon, The Ice Factor, University of York, York Conservation Trust, York Minster, York St John University

New sponsorship and partnership opportunities coming up…

York Food & Drink Festival, 23 September – 2 October 2016 Food and Drink Conference, 30 September 2016 illuminating York, 26 – 29 October 2016 Venturefest Yorkshire - 16 November 2016 York Ice Trail - 11-12 December 2016 Contact: Nick Greatrex, Partnerships Manager nick.greatrex@makeityork.com

York Ice Trail Headline Sponsor: Yorkshire Water “We were delighted to be part of it and the Wishing Well looked amazing - please forward our praise and thanks to the sculptors”.

John Bond Communications Manager illuminating York Headline Sponsor: TalkTalk Ultra Fibre Optic Broadband “This festival is at the heart of the community and like our ultrafast broadband service uses light in a transformative way. York is already a UNESCO City of Media Arts, and we hope that by becoming the first city in the UK to get Ultra Fibre Optic broadband we can help support York’s ambition to become a leading digital city of the future.”

Charles Bligh Managing Director York Residents Festival 2016 Headline Sponsor: First York “As one of York’s local bus providers, we’re proud to sponsor this event again and we’re keen to help York’s community by supporting local initiatives.”

Will Pearson Business Manager York Literature Festival 2016 Headline Sponsor: Baillie Gifford “Baillie Gifford is delighted to support York Literature Festival by becoming headline sponsor” Lorna Millar Event Manager

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And grateful thanks to our range of suppliers who generously supported the annual Make It York Stakeholder Meeting...

“As Make It York comes to its first anniversary it has already made a strong impression in York whether improving the Christmas Festival or new work on the UNESCO projects. It remains early days but the signs are strong that Make It York will continue to add value to the jobs market and cultural offering of York to benefit businesses and residents alike.�

Councillor Chris Steward Leader City of York Council

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