Welcome to Yorkshire goes into adminstration after funding is cut
WELCOME TO Yorkshire has gone into administration after the region’s council leaders announced they would no longer fund the troubled tourism agency and instead intend to set up a new organisation.
Chairman Peter Box said the company, which was established in 2009 as a private sector successor to the Yorkshire Tourist Board, had endured an “incredibly difficult” time in the past three years.
In March 2019, original chief executive Sir Gary Verity – who famously brought the Tour de France Grand Depart to Calderdale in 2014 – left Welcome to Yorkshire on health grounds in the midst of allegations about
expense spending and treatment of staff.
It was the beginning of a series of reputational and financial crisis for the organisation, with its funding also hit by the pandemic.
While Welcome to Yorkshire is a private company, it was largely reliant on public funding
and received millions in support from local councils.
Sir Gary’s successor, James Mason, joined the organisation in January 2020.
By August 2020, he had more than halved employee numbers from 49 to 22 in an effort to cut costs. But Mr Mason left
in October 2021 and was not replaced.
Confirmation of the administration was announced on Tuesday – minutes after a statement had been released by the Yorkshire Leaders Board, which is made up of council leaders and the region’s two metro mayors Dan Jarvis and Tracy Brabin. .
A statement said the board had unanimously agreed at a private meeting on Monday to stop funding Welcome to Yorkshire with public money. Their decision followed a £25,000 review conducted by Merran McRae, a former chief executive of Wakefield and Calderdale councils.