Anyone looking at MCG’s branding will guess that we love a bit of colour, so I was delighted to see the new Leeds City Region logo at the Local Enterprise Partnership Summit at the Royal Armouries today. It’s a real celebration of local colour

The coloured circles, each represent one of the ten districts which make up the Region: Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby. Wakefield and York, created a colourful rainbow of balloons on the screens above the heads of 750-plus public sector chiefs and leaders of private business which made up the audience.

And the figures were worth celebrating: a regional economy worth £52 billion annually; over 100,000 businesses employing 1.3 million people; contributing 5% of the UK’s GVA.

Yes, times are hard, the conference agreed, but there was a real sense of sleeves being rolled up and working in partnership to get the local market moving.

We’re pleased to be adding a little local colour to that business scene, both as a small business ourselves and supporting a host of thriving businesses across the region: the manufacturers, the food providers, the clothing giants, the retailers, the lawyers, the accountants, who we’re proud to call clients.

Mark Crisp, the Minister for Business and Enterprise, told delegates at the Armouries that Leeds City Region will be one of the leaders in realising the potential for growth. Tell us something we don’t know.