Leeds is the UK’s fastest growing city and is the main driver of a city region with a £64.6 billion economy, a combined population of 3 million and a workforce of 1.37 million.
Over the next ten years, the economy is forecast to grow by 21% with financial and business services set to generate over half of GVA growth over that period.
Financial and business services account for 38% of total output. Other key sectors include retail, leisure and the visitor economy, construction, manufacturing and the creative and digital industries.
Leeds has one of the most diverse economy of the all the UK’s main employment centres. In 2016, Leeds saw 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. The city has the third largest jobs total by local authority area with 480,000 in employment and self-employment at the beginning of 2015.
Key sectors
Financial and business services account for 38% of total output. Other key sectors include retail, leisure and the visitor economy, construction, manufacturing and the creative and digital industries.
Diversity
Leeds has one of the most diverse economy of the all the UK’s main employment centres. In 2016, Leeds saw 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. The city has the third largest jobs total by local authority area with 480,000 in employment and self-employment at the beginning of 2015.
Growth
According to new data on business ‘scale-ups’ – companies which have achieved three years of 20% growth in revenues or employees –Leeds is one of the UK’s foremost centres for fast growing firms, behind only London and Cambridge.
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships are paid jobs that incorporate on-and off-the-job training leading to nationally recognised qualifications. As an employee, apprentices earn as they learn and gain practical skills in the workplace. Apprenticeships achieved refers to the number of apprenticeships successfully completed. As for starts, a person who completes/achieves more than one apprenticeship in a given time period will be counted for each completion. Apprenticeships are assigned to a geographic area based on the home postcode of the learner.
The graph below shows the percentage of apprenticeships achieved in each sector.
All information has been gathered from Leeds Observatory.