Leeds

Leeds Economy

Leeds is the UK's fastest growing city with the second largest employment total outside London. Leeds has one of the most diverse economies of all the UK's main employment centres, with an estimated 463,700 people employed in the local economy.

With 124,000 employed in the sector, Leeds is the UK's largest centre for financial and professional services outside London, and an integral part of the United Kingdom's financial services industry.

Leeds has the UK's third biggest manufacturing sector.  Within this sector, the city is the UK's largest provincial printing centre.  It is also one of the largest centres for the media and communications industries.

Relocation to Leeds

Leeds has been named one of the best cities in Europe to locate a business. Leeds is ranked ahead of other UK cities including Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester in terms of value for money.

Work is almost complete on the £32 million East Leeds Link Road, scheduled for completion in the New Year of 2009 and it will provide a direct link between the city centre and  Junction 45 of the M1

Towngate Plc are the proud owners of  "Towngate Link", Cross Green Industrial Estate,  and Unit 3, currently available for rental, is situated on the new link road.  The unit comprises 62,689 sq ft and enjoys a large yard facility.  Towngate also owns a piece of development land, approximately 1.35 acres, at the front of Unit 3

It is worthy of note that support is available via the Leeds City Council for Leeds-based companies looking to expand and start-up companies seeking their first premises.

£20.6 million has been allocated over the next three years, under the government's Local Enterprise Growth Initiative, to encourage investment and promote enterprise in the city's most disadvantaged communities.

Transport

A compact city, Leeds provides ease of commuting with a well connected railway station and international airport. Travelling by road, the M62 connects the city to Manchester and Liverpool to the West, while Hull and the Humber ports are only an hours drive away to the east.  These serve more than 50 countries and 70 ports worldwide. The M1 provides fast motorway access to London and other UK destinations, north and south.

Leeds City Station is one of the busiest in the country outside of central London, with over 900 trains and 90,000 passengers passing through the station every day.  Major refurbishment has seen £245 million invested in new track, platforms and station remodelling.

The city is served by three major freight terminals at Stourton in South Leeds, Wakefield Europort and Doncaster. Bonded warehousing facilities at Stourton allow goods to be stored free of customs duty and VAT.  The terminal currently handles some 85,000 containers per year, a significant proportion of the region's intercontinental imports and exports.

Public transport services include a pioneering guided bus system.  The average distance from house to bus route is under 200 metres.

Average travel to work times in the morning peak are 26 minutes in Leeds, compared with 43 minutes in London.  Traffic speed averages just under 20 mph, compared to 11.4mph in the capital.

Work has nearly finished on the final stage of the new Leeds inner ring road.  The £50 million project will link the inner ring road to the M621 and the wider motorway network.

The £32m East Leeds Link Road, joining Junction 45 of the M1 to the Leeds inner ring road is also scheduled for completion soon (as mentioned below).