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Deputy PM Nick Clegg visits Harrogate to mark 100 day Tour de France countdown

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, is visiting Yorkshire today to celebrate 100 days to go until the beginning of the Tour de France and to launch the Yorkshire Festival 2014.

To boost growth across Yorkshire for decades to come, the Deputy Prime Minister has announced that the Government, UKTI and Local Enterprise Partnerships will run the first-ever Grand Départ International Business Festival.

Bdaily was at Mr. Clegg’s Q&A with staff from Betty’s Taylors of Harrogate at the tearooms in the city, where he fielded a series of questions, from fracking, Scottish independence and his much publicised debates with UKIP leader Nigel Farage, to whether he put milk in his tea first or not.

The Grand Départ International Business Festival will run from 2 - 4 July, showcasing the very best that Britain and Yorkshire has to offer.

There will be two business hubs in the Carriage Works in Leeds and the Institute of Sports in Sheffield. These hubs will target visitors and potential investors through a series of events showing off what the region has to offer.

Local businesses will be able to use the business to meet visiting companies and present their ideas to them, giving them an amazing chance to meet with firms from across the globe.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “The eyes of the world will be on Yorkshire as the Grand Départ of the Tour de France takes place here, bringing millions of pounds of investment to help the region thrive.

“The Yorkshire Festival 2014 and Grand Départ International Business Festival are two ways we can use this fantastic opportunity to showcase Yorkshire’s unique culture and boost local businesses.

“With just 100 days to go until the Tour de France, it is genuinely exciting to see how Yorkshire is getting geared up and I am delighted to visit iconic local businesses like Bettys and Henderson’s Relish.”

The focus in Leeds will be on the retail sector and medical devices and in Sheffield it will be on sports technologies and engineering. There will also be a series of events celebrating agricultural technology in York and a food and drink event in Harrogate.

The Deputy Prime Minister talked about the importance of the tour for Yorkshire and the rest of the country as he addresses 2,000 people at the Yorkshire Festival 2014 today in Harrogate.

He will visit Field Cycles in Sheffield to see the steps involved in making a traditional bicycle, highlighting Sheffield’s innovative steel working legacy.

The Sheffield Steel Peloton is one of the commissions being showcased through the Yorkshire Festival 2014, which was launched today.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .