The economy of Leeds is the most diverse economy of all the UK's main employment centres and has seen the fastest rate of private-sector jobs growth of any UK city and has the highest ratio of public to private sector jobs of all the UK's Core Cities. Leeds has the third-largest jobs total by local authority area with 480,000 in employment and self-employment at the beginning of 2015.
Leeds is the largest legal and financial centre in England outside of London, and third largest in the UK after Edinburgh, and in 2011 its financial and insurance services industry was worth £2.1 billion. with more than 30 national and international banks located in the city.
Leeds is also the UK's third largest manufacturing centre 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.Manufacturing |Leeds economy & relocation . Locate in Leeds. Retrieved on 17 July 2013. Leeds is also ranked as a gamma world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network; Over the next ten years, the economy is forecast to grow by 25% with financial and business services set to generate over half of GVA growth over that period with finance and business services accounting for 38% of total output. Other key sectors include retail, leisure and the visitor economy, construction, manufacturing and the creative and digital industries.
Leeds' growth has helped to change the economic geography of the United Kingdom, as Leeds is now the largest financial centres in Britain outside the capital. New tertiary industries such as retail, call centres, offices and media have contributed to a high rate of economic growth since the early 1990s. Leeds was successful in becoming the first British city to have full broadband and digital coverage during the dot-com bubble, enabling it to become one of the key hubs in the emerging new media sector. Companies such as Freeserve, Energis, Sportal, TEAMtalk, Contactmusic.com and Ananova emerged from Leeds to dominate the UK internet industry. Now, over 33% of the UK's internet traffic passes through Leeds, making it one of the most important regional internet centres in the UK.
Economic indices Below is a collection of economic indices featuring Leeds. It is important to remember that while useful, surveys and indicators have limitations, and are at times subjective and incomplete. For example, no complete list of factors affecting quality of life can be created, and the way people weight these factors differs.
Quality of life 5th in the UK for quality of life (2013), according to a rating of the UK's 12 largest cities. The cities were assessed on a range of factors including property market activity, rental costs, salary levels, disposable income growth, cost of living, unemployment rates and life satisfaction., Opinium Research LLP on behalf of MoneySupermarket 4th most deprived local authority in England in terms of income and employment according to the 2010 English Indices of Deprivation. 15th in the UK amongst big cities for 'cycle-friendliness' (2010).
Business Cushman & Wakefield European Cities Monitor (2010) - A survey based on the views of 500 European businesses of Europe's leading business cities. Overall 23rd in Europe, 4th in the UK after London, Manchester and Birmingham, best city to locate a business based on factors which are disaggregated below. 16th in Europe, 4th in the UK after London, Birmingham and Manchester, for ease of access to markets, customers or clients. 17th in Europe, 4th in the UK after London, Manchester and Birmingham, for best qualified staff. 20th in Europe, 4th in the UK after London, Manchester and Birmingham, for quality of telecommunications. 18th in Europe, 4th in the UK after London, Manchester and Birmingham, for external transport links to other cities and internationally. 1st in Europe and the UK in terms of value for money of office space. 10th in Europe, 1st= in the UK with Glasgow, for cost of staff. 7th in Europe, 3rd in the UK after Manchester and Birmingham, for availability of office space. 21st in Europe, 5th in the UK after London, Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham, for climate governments create for businesses. 24th in Europe, 4th in the UK after London, Birmingham and Manchester, in terms of languages spoken. 15th in Europe, 3rd in the UK after London, and Manchester for ease of travelling around within the city.
In the same survey, when asked how well companies know each of the cities as a business location, 19% said they were familiar with Leeds as a business location. This was the 6th highest in the UK after London (82%), Manchester (33%), Birmingham (28%), Edinburgh (25%) and Glasgow (21%).
GVA
+GVA for Leeds 2002-2012 Year GVA (£million) Growth (%) 2002 13,480 7.4% 2003 14,495 7.5% 2004 15,629 7.8% 2005 16,729 7.0% 2006 17,651 5.5% 2007 18,807 6.5% 2008 19,263 2.4% 2009 18,110 6.0% 2010 18,126 0.1% 2011 18,838 3.9% 2012 18,767 0.4%
In 2012, Leeds' GVA was £18.8bn ($33.2bn) accounting for 1.4% of UK GVA. It also accounts for 44% of the GVA of West Yorkshire, and 20% of the GVA of Yorkshire and Humber. Leeds is by far the largest centre of economic activity in the Yorkshire and Humber region: it is 80% higher than Sheffield's and 117% higher than Bradford's, for example. Compared with other major UK cities and conurbations, its GVA is exceeded only by London (comprising five NUTS 3 areas - £309.3bn), Greater Manchester South (£34.8bn) and Birmingham (£21.2bn).
In 2012, the economy of Leeds remained 2.6% behind its peak output in 2008.
Over the last 10 years, GVA growth in Leeds was marginally lower than West Yorkshire, but equal to the region as a whole. Growth was also lower than the UK as a whole. Over the last 5 years, again it was lower in these three areas.
+Total GVA and GVA per head, 2012 Area GVA (£million) Annual GVA growth (%) GVA (£ per head) GVA per head growth (%)' Leeds 18,767 0.4% 24,770 1.3% West Yorkshire 42,907 1.3% 19,149 0.7% Core Cities average 16,036 2.6% 22,267 1.6% excluding Leeds, included Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield
Productivity GVA per employee in Leeds is estimated to be £46,900 per employee in 2012. It is higher than other areas in the region, but lower than London. It was higher than all other NUTS 3 areas except Edinburgh (£54,100). Growth between 2007 and 2012 was 7% - equal 9th of all comparable 18 NUTS 3 areas.
+GVA per employee, 2011 Area GVA per worker (£) GVA per worker % change 2006-11 Leeds 43,000 8% Core Cities average 32,700 11.7% excluding Leeds, included Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield
GVA by sector +Industry breakdown, 2011 Sector Value (£ millions) Growth 2010-11 (%) % of total Agriculture, forestry and fishing 41 7.9 0.2 Production 2,217 2.2 11.8 - of which manufacturing 1,532 0.1 8.1 Construction 1,065 5.0 5.7 Distribution; transport; accommodation and food 3,028 6.5 16.1 Information and communication 1,221 7.3 6.5 Financial and insurance services 2,094 13.4 11.1 Real estate activities 2,421 23.5 12.9 Business service activities 2,570 7.9 13.6 Public administration, education and health 3,555 1.7 18.9 Other services and household activities 627 9.6 3.3 Total 18,838 3.9
Employment, welfare and education The 2012 mid-year estimate for the population of Leeds was 757,700, and growth between 2011 and 2012 was estimated to be 0.93%, the second lowest of the Core Cities ahead of Liverpool (0.83%).
Employment +Employment Statistics (12 July – 13 June)http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la/1946157127/report.aspx?town=Leeds#tabempunemp ONS data - employment & unemployment Age 16-64 Leeds (%) Yorkshire and The Humber (%) Great Britain (%) Economically active 76.4 76.9 77.3 In employment 68.8 69.7 71.1 Unemployed 9.6 9.2 7.8 % of economically active who are self-employed 7.5 8.2 9.5
Earnings +Earnings by residence 2013 Full-time workers Leeds (£) Yorkshire and the Humber (£) Great Britain (£) Weekly pay (all workers) 498.4 479.1 518.1 Male 533.6 519.4 558.8 Female 459.5 414.5 459.8 Gender pay gap 13.9% 20.2% 17.7% Hourly pay (all workers) 12.83 12.00 13.18 Male 13.18 12.52 13.80 Female 12.39 11.06 12.27 Gender pay gap 6.0% 11.7% 11.1% Median earnings in pounds for employees living in Leeds.
+Earnings by workplace 2013 Full-time workers Leeds (£) Yorkshire and The Humber (£) Great Britain (£) Weekly pay (all workers) 502.1 479.1 517.8 Male 534.7 517.5 558.3 Female 463.6 416.3 459.6 Gender pay gap 13.3% 19.6% 17.7% Hourly pay (All workers) 12.86 12.00 13.17 Male 13.13 12.50 13.80 Female 12.46 11.15 12.27 Gender pay gap 5.1% 10.8% 11.1% Median earnings in pounds for employees working in Leeds.
Education +General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) 2012 Leeds (%) England (%) Pupils achieving 5+ GCSEs, A*-C 84.1 81.8 Pupils achieving 5+ GCSEs, A*-C with English and Maths 55.0 59.4 Pupils achieving no GCSEs 0.7 0.5
+Qualifications 2012 Level Leeds (%) Yorkshire and The Humber (%) Great Britain (%) NVQ4 and above 35.1 29.7 34.4 NVQ3 and above 57.8 51.5 55.1 NVQ2 and above 70.5 68.7 71.8 NVQ1 and above 83.3 81.6 84.0 Other qualifications 6.6 6.9 6.3 No qualifications 10.2 11.5 9.7
Head offices Asda has its head office in the Asda House in Leeds."Contact the right service team ." Asda. Retrieved 20 June 2010. Jet2.com, an airline, has its head office on the grounds of Leeds Bradford Airport in Yeadon, City of Leeds."Jet2.com builds on its foundations at Leeds Bradford – literally!" Jet2.com. 6 February 2006. Retrieved 19 June 2010. GHD have their headquarters at Bridgewater Place. Other companies to be headquartered in Leeds include First Direct, Republic, Premier Farnell, Ginetta Cars, Leeds Building Society and Yorkshire Bank. GDF Suez Energy UK, a subsidiary of GDF Suez, has its offices in Leeds." ." GDF Suez Energy UK. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
Manufacturing Leeds has nearly 1,800 companies engaged in a diverse range of manufacturing activities, including specialised engineering, print, food and drink manufacture, chemicals and medical technology. Employing well over 144,200 people, the sector generates 10.8% of Leeds’ total output of over £15 billion a year. Most Leeds manufacturing companies are small to medium-sized. Major companies include Siemens and Mitsubishi, ARLA foods and DairyCrest.
Vehicle production Optare buses were made in Cross Gates until 2010 when production was moved to new facilities at Sherburn-in-Elmet. Ginetta sports cars are made in Garforth. Treves UK have a factory in Leeds as well as one at nearby Knaresborough manufacturing components for car interiors.
Food production Food production makes up part of the Leeds manufacturing base. Arla Foods UK are based at Stourton, Northern Foods based at Cross Green and Goldenfry at Wetherby. Supercook were based in Leeds but have since also relocated to Sherburn-in-Elmet. Brewing has for sometime been prominent in Leeds. The Tetley's Brewery was until its closure in 2011 the main site for this, Carlsberg-Tetley's still have a distribution centre at Tingley. The Leeds Brewery still brew beer in Leeds as does the reopened Kirkstall Brewery (although not at the original site).
Unilever manufacture a variety of goods at their factory in the city's Whinmoor district.
Chemicals The city's main chemical producer, Yorkshire Chemicals closed both its Hunslet and Kirkstall plants in the 2000s. Rhodia UK also closed their smaller chemical works in Wortley, demolition was approved in 2011.https://publicaccess.leeds.gov.uk/online-applications/files/E60A9E41A77E638DBD21D43F428D7171/pdf/11_03920_DEM--499016.pdf There remains however several chemical works within the city, including E Chem in Kirkstall, Clariant in Rawdon and Chemsol in Hunslet.
Financial and professional services