WELCOMETO
LEEDSCITY
REGION

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Air routes
The Northern Powerhouse
Leeds City Region
Leeds
City
Region
Aberdeen
• £70 billion GVA - the largest city region economy
outside London and the South East
• A population of 3.1 million with:
• Over 7 million people within one hour’s drive
• The largest workforce in Northern England, with
a working age population of 1.9 million
• Over 126,000 businesses - the largest business base of
any UK core city Local Enterprise Partnership
Our economy

Our
talent
University of Leeds, Business School- credit University of Leeds
Universityof Huddersfield-credit University of Huddersfield
Universityof Bradford School of Management- credit University of Bradford
Part of an elite
group of business
schools worldwide
with the triple
crown of
accreditations
Home to world-
leading applied
research groups
in biomedical
sciences,
engineering and
physical sciences
Top 10 in
the UK for
all business
subjects
9
14
56%
70%
Graduates who study here stay in
Leeds City Region
Graduates who leave to study
elsewhere return to the City Region
Further education colleges
Universities teaching 116,000 students

Student
numbers
University of York
17,155 students
University of Leeds
31,790 students
Leeds Beckett
University
25,920 students
University of
Huddersfield
19,270 students
University of
Bradford
11,215 students
Y
ork St John
University
5,980 students
Leeds T
rinity
University
3,715 students
Leeds Arts
University
1,320 students
Leeds
Conservatoire
1,200 students

In good
company
iwoca and Sir Roger Marsh OBE Mayor Tracy Brabin launching the Creative Catalyst

Business and
professional
services
• The UK's second financial centre, contributing £19.8 billion GVA
• Home of the UK Infrastructure Bank, the Bank of England and the Financial
Conduct Authority
• Recognised in the Kalifa Review 2021 as a cluster of internationally significant
FinTech activity and home to leading fintech lender iwoca
• Over 332,000 people employed in this sector
• A substantial presence from the big 4 accountancy firms PwC, EY, KPMG, and Deloitte
• A large insurance sector with recent new investors including Reed Smith, Link Asset
Services, and Knights Plc
• Over 40 financial institutions with strengths in retail banking, consumer and business
lending, insurance, payment processing, back-office services, and credit referencing
• Home to the headquarters of the 3 of the UK’s top 5 building societies and the UK’s top 3
credit referencing agencies
• A strong legal sector with 1,600 legal companies based in the region, including 28 of the
UK’s top 100 law firms
Key sectors

Scale Ups
Beauhurst’s Scale Up Index 2020
True North
The Assembly
30 Chapel Street
Leeds City Region has
341 scale ups, more
than any other area
outside London and
the South East

UK’s
digital
heartland
• Home to over 8,695 digital tech businesses employing over
50,000 in digital and tech roles
• Home of the largest digital festival in the North and second largest
tech festival in the UK–The Leeds Digital Festival
• Strengths include Data Analysis,Software development,Digital
Health, Gaming, and Fintech
• Attracted £120 million in venture capital investment in 2020
• Identified as the 2nd best location in the world to launch an
Artificial Intelligence operation in financial and professional
services
• The fastest rate of scale up growth outside London and the South
East
Platform
Key sectors

Biovale, York
NHS Digital - credit John Cameron
Healthcare
and life
sciences
• Leeds City Region is home to an internationally recognised healthcare
and innovation ecosystem with over 20 clinical commissioning
groups, 600 life sciences companies,250 MedT
ech firms, and 62
digital health enterprises
• This sector offers huge opportunities for investment and growth
with over 196,000 people employed in health and science roles
• Home to NHS England,NHS Digital,Public Health England,The NHS
leadership academy as well as large teaching hospitals and 20
clinical commissioning groups
• The region is also home to the world’s largest healthcare data
platforms NHS Spine and NHS Database, alongside leading tech
companies such as EMIS and TPP
Key sectors
De Puy

• Leeds City Region manufacturing businesses generate £7
billion a year and employ 144,000 people,representing the
largest manufacturing base in the UK
• The region is home to over 7,300 manufacturing and
engineering businesses,two-thirds of which are
specialists in advanced processes,R&D and product
development
• Leeds City Region is a centre for the manufacturing of
mission critical components across a range of high
value supply chains and essential infrastructure
including Automotive,Pressure systems, and Aerospace
Advanced
manufacturing
Produmax, Bradford Canvasman, Bradford 3M
Key sectors

• Leeds City Region has a thriving Creative and Media ecosystem
including broadcasters, independent TV production companies,
digital agencies, and games designers
• Home to UK broadcasters like ITV, the BBC, as well as Channel 4’s
new national headquarters, the region offers a prime location for
Channel 4 to capitalise on its commitment to commission 50 per
cent of content spend across the Nations and Regions
• Production Park in Wakefield is home to 20 live events businesses, 2
studios and over 200 students and has welcomed the likes of
Beyonce, Muse and Coldplay, who made use of their arena-sized
rehearsal space and high-end creative stage and set solutions
• We’re a major hub for the games industry, with over 7% of the UK
industry based here, including key players like Team 17, Redkite
Games, and Rockstar Leeds
• Bradford was the world's first UNESCO City of Film, and many
global productions have been filmed here, including Bollywood
movie Gold and smash hits Victoria and Peaky Blinders
Creative
and Media
Key sectors

Our region is
regularly voted among
the happiest and best
places to live in the
UK. The combination
of a vibrant cultural
programme, award-
winning restaurants,
three National Parks
and a contemporary
urban buzz makes it a
great place to live.
John Lewis, Victoria Gate,
Leeds
Yorkshire Dales
Emerald Headingley Stadium

Pride in
our people

The sense of pride,
positivity and strength
that our diversity
provides in terms of
recruitment and loyalty
is unmeasurable enabling
organisations locating in
Leeds City Region to be
truly representative.

1 in 6 people
identify with
being an ethnic
minority in
West Yorkshire
Leeds and Bradford
are more ethnically
diverse than England
as a whole with
22% of residents
identified as
non-white
Home to over
170 ethnic groups
with over
104 languages
spoken
credit Bradford 2025
credit Bradford 2025
credit Yorkshire Post
More people
aged under 20
than anywhere
else in the North

Leeds City Region is
proud to be
recognised as one
of the top 100 cities
in the world for the
LGBTQ+ community

For further information please contact:
Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership
: invest@the-lep.com