The Yorkshire Pantry, the group that pools the resources of 105 food and drink businesses, mostly in North Yorkshire, is set to expand, it was revealed today.
Paymasters of the food business network, North Yorkshire County Council, the City of York Council, the Rural Development Commission, Food from Britain and the private sector, all want to broaden the geographical - and funding - base of the ten-year-old organisation.
North Yorkshire County Council's economic development sub-committee was told today that allowing businesses outside York and North Yorkshire to join was a condition of the Rural Development Commission's one-off support, but active recruitment campaigns had not been undertaken.
The result is that more than half the member businesses are manufacturing companies in York and North Yorkshire, with a further quarter in the retail, wholesale and catering areas.
The remainder, only around 24 firms, are affiliate members from outside North Yorkshire but within the traditional Yorkshire region.Extra national funding for an expanded Yorkshire Pantry could come from Food From Britain, the agency of the Ministry of Agriculture which promoted British food at home and abroad.
Now the Yorkshire Pantry's bosses will consider a feasibility study to examine the numbers and needs of potential members outside North Yorkshire, sources of funding now and in three years' time, the services that a broadened organisation could offer and a business plan.
That should be completed by September - in time to take on 50 new members in December followed by a launch in April 1999 of a massive year-long recruitment campaign throughout Yorkshire.
Jonathan French, economic development officer for North Yorkshire County Council, said: "We are going to have to ask Food From Britain for help. The county council will continue to fund the Yorkshire Pantry but it cannot pay for work it does outside North Yorkshire.
"The whole idea behind increasing its critical mass is to improve the organisation's range of services and funding."
WEBSITE: The Yorkshire Pantry
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