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| News & Events > Press Releases > December 2004 > Major study predicts continued growth for financial services in Leeds |
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| Major study predicts continued growth for financial services in Leeds |
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Further expansion for Leeds over the next ten years as a leading financial services centre is predicted according to a major new report published this week.
Commissioned by Yorkshire Forward and the Leeds Financial Services Initiative (LFSI), the report Financial and Related Services in Leeds predicts that Leeds can become the largest financial services centre outside London by 2020 - but will require closer co-operation between the public and private sector.
The report highlights that steady economic growth and the increased corporate activity associated with it will drive the rapid expansion of the sector, which currently employs almost 42,000 people in Leeds, and over 80,000 in the whole city region.
This finding dismisses recent concerns that the financial sector was “faltering” and comes after the latest Yorkshire Forward/CBI Survey of Regional Economic Trends showed that Financial and Business Services companies are the most optimistic in the region when it comes to future employment.
Employment in Leeds in financial and related services grew by 22 per cent between 1995/97 and 2000/02, well above the national rate and similar to the levels of growth experienced in Manchester and Edinburgh. Although the rate of job growth is expected to slow down over the next ten years, the sector is still set to expand significantly faster than the forecasted growth of the UK economy as a whole and the rest of the city’s economy.
The report, which includes feedback from interviews with 30 of the leading figures in the sector in the city, including First Direct, Walker Morris, KPMG, Brewin Dolphin, Leeds and Holbeck Building Society and the Bank of England, offers solutions to some of the key issues that could prevent Leeds from realising its vision for 2020. The findings also provide further justification for the bid for the Leeds Supertram, with congested roads and inadequate rail links cited as potential barriers to future growth, with commuters accounting for up to 25% of the financial and business services workforce.
Skills shortages also need to be addressed, the report says, with greater co-operation between the sector and education and skills organisations such as schools, universities and the newly established Regional Skills Partnership, of which Yorkshire Forward is a key partner.
The report adds that for Leeds to fulfil its potential to top the league table outside London, both public and private sector partners need to focus on a few initiatives that will deliver highly skilled people able to work in specialist financial services.
Yorkshire Forward Executive Director of Strategy and Policy Tom Riordan commented:
“Leeds has built an enviable reputation for top quality legal and financial services, which is a real strength to the regional economy.
“What this report highlights is the importance of a co-ordinated and sustained approached by both the private and public sectors to investment in key areas, especially education and transport. This is essential if we are to achieve future expansion in this sector.”
The report, produced by Experian’s Business Strategies Division, also sees organic growth and new inward investment as the most likely routes for the sector to expand, requiring more aggressive marketing of the city internationally. The strengthening of Leeds as an international brand was a recurring theme in the interviews with industry heavyweights, which supports the current City Image work and its role in the ongoing development of the City.
John Ansbro, chief executive of Leeds Financial Services Initiative, welcomed the report saying that it paints a positive picture and that Leeds has the potential and opportunity to realise its ambition to be the dominant financial services centre outside of London given that constraints can be overcome.
“The report highlights Leeds’ tremendous success in financial services and sends a positive message to investors that growth is likely to continue. It will be very valuable in helping to formulate policy for the sector and the city. We are aware of the sector’s concerns on transport and skills and will reinforce our efforts for progress in these areas.”
Other findings in the report, produced by Experian’s Business Strategies Division, show that:
· In the Leeds city region (West Yorkshire plus Harrogate, Selby and York) the sector employs 81,000 people.
· More than one in ten people working in Leeds operate in the financial services sector.
· Leeds is the second largest employment centre outside London for non-life insurance.
· Leeds’ expertise and reputation for high-quality legal work helps to attract business from other UK centres, including other parts of the north of England, Edinburgh and Birmingham.
Yorkshire Forward and LFSI commissioned the report to analyse the sector’s role in the Leeds and regional economies, identify its key strengths and potential opportunities as well as threats to the sector.
1. Over the past year, Yorkshire Forward has created and safeguarded more than 10,800 new jobs; helped create and attract more than 800 new businesses, provided nearly 25,000 learning opportunities and reclaimed more than 100 hectares of brownfield land - achieving or exceeding all of the targets it was set.
2. Yorkshire Forward’s investment across the region is maximised by attracting European Regional Development Funding from the Objective One and Two programmes.
3. The Leeds Financial Services Initiative is a partnership organisation and was founded by Leeds City Council and the Leeds Chamber of Commerce together with a number of leading financial and legal firms in 1993. Its primary aims are to promote the city as a financial centre and to improve the cohesion of the financial services sector in the region. More than 100 firms and organisations are now subscription members, including all the major financial and professional services organisations in Leeds.
4. The financial sector includes banking, insurance, legal, accounting and financial services call centre employment.
5. The report is available on an embargoed basis from Barry White, Press Officer, Yorkshire Forward on 0113 3949923; fax 0113 234 9211; e-mail barry.white@yorkshire-forward.com It will also appear at www.yorkshire-forward.com and www.leedsfinancialservices.org.uk on Tuesday morning. |
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