Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce
Kirklees Local Business Forum
25th September 2015 at 11.30am
Agenda
1. Welcome and Introductions
Chairman of the Meeting - Chamber President, Brian Stahelin of Stafflex Ltd
2. Business
“The Northern Powerhouse”
with our special Guests
Barry Sheerman MP for Huddersfield
and
Steve Moore - Business & Skills Leader, Kirklees Council
There has been much talk about the potential for the development of a Northern Powerhouse, and nine
Chambers of Commerce have jointly written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, ahead of his
forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review, urging him to ‘Unlock the Potential of the North’. We
will hear the views of Barry Sheerman MP on this highly-topical subject - before opening the meeting
to a question and answer session which will enable all present to participate.
A short presentation will also be given by Steve Moore on “The Digital Age”, and how modern
technologies are assisting Kirklees Council to deliver local services in a more cost-effective and efficient
manner.
3. AOB
Date of next Kirklees Local Business Forum - Fri 29th January 2016
at the John Smiths Stadium
Biography – Barry Sheerman MP
Barry Sheerman was re-elected MP for Huddersfield on May 7th 2015 with 18186 votes, taking 44.9% of the vote.
He went to Hampton Grammar School (became the independent Hampton School in 1975) on Hanworth Road in
Hampton then Kingston Technical College. He was educated at the London School of Economics (BSc Economics
1965) and at the University of London (MSc 1967). He became a lecturer at the University of Wales, Swansea in
1966 and remained there until his election to parliament in 1979.
He became the MP for Huddersfield East from 1979-83 and for Huddersfield since the 1983 general election. At
the 2005 election, despite a swing of 7.1% from Sheerman to his Liberal Democrat challenger, his majority was
still 8,351.
From 1983-8 he was the Labour spokesperson on education and employment; for Home Affairs (as Shadow Deputy
Home Secretary) from 1988-92; and for Disabled People's Rights from 1992-4. He has been Chair of the House of
Commons Education and Skills select committee since 2001. The Committee is often critical of government policy.
He has been Chair of the Labour Forum for Criminal Justice and of the Cross-Party Advisory Group on Preparation
for European Monetary Union. Outside parliament, he is Chair of the National Educational Research and
Development Trust, and a trustee of the National Children's Centre. His political interests are listed as trade,
industry, finance, further education, education, economy, the European Union, South America and the United
States. His recreations include walking, biography and films.
Biography - Steve Moore
Stephen is a Civil Engineer by profession becoming a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1999 and a
Member of the Institution of Highways and Transportation four years later. Over his career he has procured,
designed and delivered over £100M of infrastructure projects for clients in the UK and abroad. Having worked for
an international company, been self-employed, and most recently working for local government, Stephen has a
broad understanding of the pressures on businesses and the public sector. In his twenties he developed one of the
county’s first commercial Geographical Information System’s and has advised on many Research and
Development projects since. He advises the Leeds City Region on tech applications for their Business Growth
Programme and is on the board for Superfast West Yorkshire. Taking over Kirklees Council’s Business Team
eighteen months ago he designed and delivered The Kirklees Business Hub. The business hub is an intelligent
portal where users earn credits for supporting local businesses and can then exchange those credits for advertising
on the site itself.