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The city of Leeds has come a long way in a very short time. Yet, as the cranes which dominate the city's skyline indicate, there is much more to come.
Leeds has a proud history as a centre of commerce and industry, but it is the city's ability to adapt to develop new markets that has made it one of the UK's biggest commercial success stories.
The transformation from sleeping giant to the UK's favourite city has been a triumph for all of those involved, from the visionaries who dared to dream, to the investors who backed the city's ambitions with hard cash.
Read more»
The city of Leeds has come a long way in a very short time. Yet, as the cranes which dominate the city's skyline indicate, there is much more to come.
Leeds has a proud history as a centre of commerce and industry, but it is the city's ability to adapt to develop new markets that has made it one of the UK's biggest commercial success stories.
The transformation from sleeping giant to the UK's fastest growing city has been a triumph for all of those involved, from the visionaries who dared to dream, to the investors who backed the city's ambitions with hard cash.
For those living and working in the city, the change has been gradual, yet constant. Rather like living with a growing child, it is sometimes hard to spot just how much has changed, until you glance back at an old photograph. Gleaming new buildings and beautiful regeneration schemes have breathed new life into tired old buildings. But Leeds is about far more than bricks and mortar. Leeds is a city built on the efforts of its people, and nowhere is this more evident than in the world of business.
Leeds' historical importance owed everything to its manufacturing skills and the brilliance of early industrial giants such as Matthew Murray, a pioneer of the Industrial Revolution who developed textile machinery at Holbeck's Round Foundry — now reborn for a modern generation — and built some of the first steam engines in the early 19th century.
The beginning of the 20th century saw engineering established as the city's largest employer, with firms such as Yorkshire Copper Works, Kirkstall Forge and the Hunslet Engine Company gaining a worldwide reputation for their goods. But modern Leeds is an entirely different animal.
The thriving business community that is the lifeblood of 21st century Leeds — and which employs an estimated 442,000 people in the city — has been built on the almost unstoppable march of the service sector. While industry is still a major player in Leeds (the city is the UK's third major manufacturing centre despite the inevitable decline in job numbers in the face of greater competition from abroad) the service sector has risen to prominence.
The shift in emphasis began with a call centre revolution made possible by the huge leaps in telecommunications technology. Leeds quickly grew to be one of the nation's call centre capitals, with many big name players in the banking, finance and telecoms industries choosing to establish major regional and national offices in the city.
The legal, financial and accountancy professions also enjoyed a boom, finding much to admire in a city which was placed geographically in the centre of the UK, with road and rail links to match its location, and office costs which could better its larger rivals. The city is home to over 30 national and international banks and building societies, plus several law firms which now rank amongst the top ten firms in the UK.
In more recent years, the media has played an important role in the development of Leeds. The city is the country's major centre outside of London for the paper, printing and publishing industry, and modern Leeds has moved beyond traditional media to take a national lead in the promotion and development of new, cutting-edge media industries, winning national and international renown for its work in the fields of design and internet-related commerce.
The public relations industry in the city has grown, with companies at home and abroad turning to the city's professionals to help develop their own brands. Other major industrial sectors in Leeds include construction, chemicals, food, clothing and textiles, leather goods and — with a nod to an increasingly environmentally conscious public — recycling.
The city's retail and leisure sector has grown to service this boom. Tourism and cultural activities have developed to satisfy the growing demand and the ambitious drive to make Leeds a 24-hour city.
The first Leeds Business Week is being held in 2008, brought to you by Marketing Leeds with RIBC and kindly sponsored by Yorkshire Bank. Running from 2 – 6 June 2008, Leeds Business Week is aimed at all levels of commerce and industry, with events hosted by businesses and organisations including Leeds Chamber of Commerce, the IoD, Leeds Financial Services Initiative, Club LS1, PwC, the Transatlantic Business Council and the Alliance of Merger and Acquisition Advisors. The week aims to inspire, educate and motivate you as well as provide a unique networking experience. There are themed days which will target different audiences and will involve various organisations and events, including dinners and evening seminars.
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Monday 12 May 2008
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