The York Narrative

Menu

The science and tech sectors are central to The York Narrative, and it is time to make your stories heard. It is in your hands to change perceptions of York; building on its recognition as a heritage city and showing it to be a forward-thinking, creative, surprising and vibrant place where every person matters, and where all can play their part in progressing a thriving and sustainable future.

Whether you’re a research and development organisation, food, agri-tech, a tech startup, a software developer or a meditech specialist, The York Narrative will help you solidify your message to audiences, communicate a modern, relevant and engaging story of York and drive growth and aid recruitment of specialist and graduate talent – and do it in a way which benefits from joined-up thinking and common purpose. By working together, York will stand out from the competition and become clearly associated with the values it stands for.

“As the first Science Park in the country it was really important to us that the York Narrative reflects the role science and knowledge play in the city. We’ve been impressed with how relevant the story is to us.”
|
York Science Park

Key Facts

York is a major centre for bio-science, healthcare, rail-tech and digital tech:

130 businesses working in the health and bio-sciences sector have settled in York – a further 200 in wider Yorkshire.

Amongst its awards, York was the UK’s first Gigabit City (2017), ranked the most innovative fast tracking city by Connected Britain (2019).

The University of York has been ranked in the Top 12 nationally for Biological Sciences and Chemistry and both universities conduct important research in this area, with York St John operating a Health & Wellbeing research group, for example, and York University’s Health Science research income exceeding £8m / year.

£18bn worth of products and services are produced by the bio-economy of Yorkshire & the Humber.

Care for the environment is apparent in York’s transport investment decisions as well. York’s 21 new zero emission, electric buses will be on the road by the end of 2019. The buses will reduce congestion & improve air quality, thanks to investment by First York & the Office for Low Emission Vehicles.

BioVale is seeking to promote York as the natural UK home of the bioeconomy, which has the potential to attract even more related businesses.

Digital and creative industries businesses are especially valuable to York – they are high growth, have significant economic turnover, and employ high-skilled workers. York has been investing in its digital infrastructure for a while now, and is home to an ever-growing number of exciting creative and digital businesses.

York accounts for 10% of national rail industry employment, largely due to local headquarters of Network Rail, Northern Rail & Virgin Trains East Coasts.

The Narrative Toolkit

Whether you want to recruit talent, make the case for specialist space and business support, the toolkit is designed to help you adopt The York Narrative with a framework for implementation, how-to guidelines for each stage and downloadable resources for you to adapt and use in your organisation.

View the toolkit

Case Study: Phase One Incubator

York Science Park is home to over 130 companies focusing on science and tech. With close links to the University, the Science Park plays a pivotal role in the development of the city’s knowledge, bioscience and tech based enterprises, and has just opened a new incubator space for start-ups.

Find out more