POWERHOUSE OF THE NORTH

Leeds City Region is the largest UK city region outside London, with an economy bigger than that of eight European countries with a  £53 billion economy producing 5% of UK GVA. It is home to a population of 3 million, 106,000 businesses and one of the largest groupings of research-intensive universities in Europe.

Leeds City Region is at the heart of the UK, with strategic road, rail, air and sea links to London, Edinburgh, mainland Europe and beyond. From vibrant urban centres such as Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds, to historic York and the high-quality rural environments of the Dales and Pennine Yorkshire, Leeds City Region combines business competitiveness with affordability and an unrivalled quality of life.

KEY ASSETS

A diverse and growing business base
Leeds City Region is home to one of the most diverse and successful business, employment and knowledge bases in the UK, with major strengths in global growth sectors.  We have the third largest financial services sector in Europe and the largest manufacturing sector and food and drink cluster in the UK. We are a leader in healthcare and medical technologies, low carbon technologies and bioscience, and a dynamic hub for the creative and digital industries.

World-leading research
Leeds City Region boasts the largest concentration of universities in Europe, with eight universities producing more than 36,000 graduates each year. Two of our universities – Leeds and York – appear in The Times HES/ QES Top 100 World Universities rankings, and we also have two of the FT’s World Top 100 Business Schools – Bradford and Leeds. 36% of our universities’ combined research is considered world-class and a further 10% is world-leading.

Financial and business services
With approximately 25,000 financial services business units, over 250,000 employees and an annual output in excess of £13bn, we have attracted some of the word’s leading companies here such as, Lloyds Banking Group, Ventura, Santander, Yorkshire Bank, Aviva, Barclays, HSBC, and Provident Financial.

There are 30 national and international banks located in our city region and we are home to 3 of the 5 largest building societies in the UK .We also have the largest concentration of call centres in the UK and are home to several shared service centres and outsourcing operations for major international firms .

Creating the environment for growth
Driving the Leeds City Region economy from within, the city region’s local enterprise partnership (LEP) is working with public and private partners to create programmes that support a globally competitive business environment.

The LEP is one of the first such partnerships in the country, continuing the Leeds City Region’s pioneering approach to public-private collaboration over the past eight years and is currently the most advanced partnership in the country.

The LEP’s work focuses on creating a globally attractive and sustainable environment for business, by supporting amongst others skills provision and employment, connectivity, exports and inward investment. One of the LEP’s key priorities is also the development of a green economy and is currently bidding to host the world’s first Green Investment Bank.

For more information on how the LEP is driving economic growth visit www.leedscityregion.gov.uk