TWO top York organisations have boosted their events to promote the city and its businesses.

The University of York and the Company of Merchant Adventurers have already worked together for 25 years delivering annual lectures by leading university academics.

The Science Discovery Lecture began in 1996 and aim to tell York people about discoveries made at the university and how they can affect mankind.

The Art Discovery Event was added to the programme in 2010, to explore similar discoveries and their impacts made in the humanities.

Now, this annual programme of lectures is being supplemented with an extra enterprise lecture and a series of breakfast business networking events, featuring talks from leading City figures and members of the Merchant Adventurers network.

The first  breakfast event in October featured Judith McNichol, Director of the National Railway Museum who detailed the Museum's master plan for the coming years.

The National Railway Museum and Locomotion is currently planning and delivering a major development that will transform the museum into a world-class visitor attraction.

Judith will lead on this masterplan, which will see the museum as the cultural heart of York Central, a new city quarter around the museum site, featuring new public spaces as well as leisure, commercial and residential areas, and a Wonderlab to inspire the next generation of engineers.

This event will be followed on December 7 with a networking event for local and regional entrepreneurs to meet with Company members to learn of the Merchant’s network and how they can work together.

The breakfast events and the evening talks will take place in historic of the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall. All these events will be filmed to make them available for anyone to view after the event.

Sam Gardner, Director of Enterprise Works, said: “We’re really keen for these events to leave a legacy - of inspiration, of engagement and of expertise, but also in our own entrepreneurial community - through the creation and expansion of successful businesses brought about through the advice and support of generations of York entrepreneurs.”

Prof Kiran Trehan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Partnerships and Engagement at the University of York said: “There is considerable depth and range to the enterprise activity in York, enough to offer the next generation of entrepreneurs from school leavers and students, innovators to career changers all they need for their business to launch, grow and succeed. We want to give every community in York and beyond the opportunity to make that journey themselves.”

 Governor of The Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York, Delma Tomlin MBE, said “I am delighted to be able to support this new initiative - linking together the historic Merchant Adventurers Company with the ever-entrepreneurial University of York - offering our business community the opportunity to join together, to network and to support one another at this challenging time.”