Troubled Yorkshire tourism agency appoints new boss

A new chairman has been appointed to head a troubled tourism agency.

The leader of Wakefield Council Peter Box will take over at Welcome to Yorkshire after local authorities agreed to inject £1m to keep the the organisation going.

Its former chief executive Sir Gary Verity resigned in March on health grounds, but later faced complaints about his behaviour and expenses.

Mr Box said he intended to make the agency "open and transparent".

"I'm going to try and make a difference," he said.

"I think it is really important that the public see that Welcome To Yorkshire is far more transparent, far more accountable and far more outgoing and I certainly intend to do that."

Mr Box said he intended to open board meetings to the public, including a chance for people to ask questions.

He added the current board would also be replaced by April next year.

Two independent reports commissioned into the management of the agency said expenses claims were made without receipts and staff felt unable to speak out about bad behaviour.

Mr Box pledged to "turn around" the organisation and praised the work it had done boosting tourism in the county, including its work with the Tour de Yorkshire cycle race.

"I think that one of the things that Welcome to Yorkshire has done, along with the debate on devolution, is to kind of reawaken this Yorkshireness, if you want to put it that way, and I think most people want that to continue".

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