I went on to the Leeds Chamber of Commerce Dinner at the Queen's Hotel...

I had been invited to the dinner by Frank Griffiths, Chair of the Igen Board, and Steve Higginbotham, Igen's Chief Executive. The President of the Leeds Chamber of Commerce is Alan Gill, one of Education Leeds Non-Executive Directors. Alan talked about the challenges facing the city around transport, competitiveness and skills. He talked about the real progress we have made with driving up standards in our secondary schools but emphasised that there was still more to do to build a world class education system here in Leeds and across the UK. The guest speaker was Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families who talked about the economy and business and the critical importance of the schools in delivering the skills our young people need to be successful and contribute to the further development of Leeds as a major international city. He mentioned the progress Education Leeds was making, the potential of Academies to break the mould and drive up standards in some of our most deprived communities and challenged all the businesses there to make a contribution to their local schools.
Chris