Sue Jefferson appointed as Chair of the Business Board

Sue Jefferson has been appointed Chair of the Business Board at York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The new business board chair is confident the York and North Yorkshire economy will grow back and better, as it recovers from the impact of Covid-19.

Sue said: “The Business Board identifies current and emerging issues at the heart of all types of business, helping to shape then monitor the effective support offered through the York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub. There’s a huge range of support on offer, including peer to peer networks, planning for scale ups and guidance relating to innovation, reducing carbon and opening up online or export markets.

“Alongside the increasing Growth Hub offer, the Board is overseeing new work to attract inward investment and develop internationalisation in the region’s import and export markets. We also continue to champion delivery of bold and ambitious initiatives, such as circular economy and carbon abatement schemes, which provide immense business advantage and new skill opportunities for the area.

“Having been involved with the Board since 2018, I’ve valued the breadth of independent, experienced private sector members, bringing a diversity of thinking to our discussions. The agility and impact shown during this unprecedented time, the success stories already emerging and the important initiatives now rolling out, makes it an exciting time to chair the Business Board and see the region’s greener, fairer, stronger growth realised.”

Outside of the LEP, Sue Jefferson has 30 years in UK Director and Global Leadership roles, including Danone Group and McCain Foods, and now uses her expertise in non-executive Director roles and developing leadership teams’ diversity of thinking so their organisations thrive through competitive outperformance.

Sue’s new role with the Business Board was ratified at the LEP’s Main Board meeting on Friday (21).