Higher Education in Leeds - Economy

Economy

Leeds has a diverse economy with employment in the service sector now far exceeding that in the traditional manufacturing industries. In 2002, 401,000 employees were registered in the Leeds district. Of these 24.7% were in public administration, education and health, 23.9% were in banking, finance and insurance and 21.4% were in distribution, hotels and restaurants. It is in the banking, finance and insurance sectors that Leeds differs most from the financial structure of the region and the nation. The city is the location of one of the largest financial centres in England outside London. Tertiary industries such as retail, call centres, offices and media have contributed to a high rate of economic growth. The city also hosts the only subsidiary office of the Bank of England in the UK. In 2006 GVA for the city was recorded at £16.3 billion, with the entire Leeds City Region generating an economy of £46 billion.

Leeds has over 30 national and international banks, many of whose northern or regional offices are based in the city. It is the headquarters for First Direct and is home to Yorkshire Bank and large Barclays, HSBC, Santander, Lloyds Banking Group and RBS Group operations.

The city is also an important centre for equity, venture and risk finance. Founded in Leeds, the venture capital provider, YFM Equity Partners, is now the UK’s largest provider of risk capital to small and medium sized enterprises.

Other major companies based in the city include International Personal Finance, ASDA, Leeds Building Society and Northern Foods. Capita Group, KPMG, Direct Line, Aviva, Yorkshire Building Society, BT Group and TD Waterhouse all also have a considerable presence in the city.

There are around 150 law firms operating in Leeds, employing over 6,700 people. According to The UK Legal 500, "Leeds has a sophisticated and highly competitive legal market, second only to London."

Specialist legal expertise to be found in Leeds includes corporate finance, corporate restructuring and insolvency, global project financing, trade and investment, commercial litigation, competition, construction, Private Finance Initiatives and Public Private Partnerships, tax, derivatives, IT, employment, pensions, intellectual property, sport and entertainment.

The establishment of an Administrative Court in Leeds in April 2009 reinforced Leeds' position as one of the UK's key legal centres. The court previously sat only in London.

Leeds is the UK's third largest manufacturing centre and 50% of the UK's manufacturing base is within a two hour drive of Leeds. With around 1,800 firms and 39,000 employees, Leeds manufacturing firms account for 8.8% of total employment in the city. The largest sub-sectors are engineering, printing and publishing, food and drink, chemicals and medical technology.

There is also a growing creative industry in the city, particularly in the digital gaming sector. A number of large developers have studios in and around the city, including Activision, developers of the mobile versions of the Call of Duty series, and Rockstar Leeds.

Office developments, also traditionally located in the inner area, have expanded south of the River Aire and total 11,000,000 square feet (1,000,000 m2) of space. In the period from 1999 to 2008 £2.5bn of property development was undertaken in central Leeds; of which £711m has been offices, £265m retail, £389m leisure and £794m housing. Manufacturing and distribution uses accounts for £26m of new property development in the period. There are 130,100 jobs in the city centre, accounting for 31% of all jobs in the wider district. In 2007, 47,500 jobs were in finance and business, 42,300 in public services, and 19,500 in retail and distribution. 43% of finance sector jobs in the district are contained in Leeds city centre and 44% of those employed in the city centre live more than nine kilometres away. Tourism is important to the Leeds economy, in 2009 Leeds was the 8th most visited city in England by UK visitors. and the 13th most visited city by overseas visitors. Research by VisitEngland reported that the day visitor market to Leeds attracts 24.9 million people each year, worth over £654 million to the local economy.

In January 2011, Leeds was named as one of five "cities to watch" in a report published by Centre for Cities. The report shows that the average resident in Leeds earns £471 per week, seventeenth nationally, 30.9% of Leeds residents had NVQ4+ high level qualifications, fifteenth nationally, and Leeds' employment rate stands at 70.4% in 2010, twenty-fifth nationally, but was the only major city, along with Bristol, to have an employment rate at or above the national average. It also shows that Leeds will be the least affected major city by welfare cuts in 2014/2015, with welfare cuts of -£125 per capita predicted, compared to -£192 in Liverpool and -£175 in Glasgow. Yet despite the affluence of Leeds, much of the city retains a strongly working class tradition, and the economic progress of recent decades has also been accompanied by poverty: much of inner city Leeds remains deprived, with areas like Gipton, Middleton, Belle-Isle, Harehills, Burmantofts, Bramley, Armley, Kirkstall and Seacroft containing streets and areas of council housing that are among the poorest and most deprived areas in the whole of the UK. However, overall Leeds is less deprived than other large UK cities and average income is above regional averages.