Excellent transport links are vital to the success of a modern city. Ali Schofield discovers how people and products get in and out of Leeds with the minimum of fuss

Leeds’ central location in the UK means it benefits from excellent transport links to everywhere in the country. For businesses, this means easy access to markets, customers and clients — all of which are essential for success.

You've got rail

Leeds City Train Station is one of the busiest outside London, with some 90,000 passengers crossing its 17 platforms every day. At just over two hours by train to London, three to Edinburgh and less than an hour to Manchester, business people and leisure visitors alike take full advantage of the city’s superb rail links.

National Express East Coast runs between Leeds and London, approximately every half hour. Arriva Cross Country offers frequent services to other major cities, including Newcastle, Birmingham and Edinburgh.

The direct Eurostar link has made it easier than ever to reach the continent from Leeds. The new St Pancras International offers even quicker links to Paris, Brussels and the rest of Europe.
Plane and simple

As well as regular flights to and from cities throughout the UK, Leeds Bradford International Airport’s international links are expanding all the time — it currently offers flights to 72 destinations across the world.

Chief executive John Parkin comments: “LBIA is one of the UK’s fastest growing regional airports, with over 75% growth during the last five years. We intend to continue this growth with a £70 million capital expenditure plan, focusing on increasing terminal capacity, expanding the route network and enhancing the airport’s retail offer.”

Low cost airline Jet2.com, which won the Guardian Readers’ Travel awards for best short-haul airline in 2007, is based at LBIA. It recently announced eight new destinations, beginning May 2008: Hamburg, Madrid, La Rochelle, Avignon, Sardinia, Crete, Cyprus, Jersey and the Channel Islands.

bmi regional is the UK’s most punctual airline according to the CAA’s most recent figures, and operates short haul flights to four destinations from LBIA: Brussels, Copenhagen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Driving in my car

Leeds occupies an enviable position at the heart of the national motorway network, with quick and easy road linksto anywhere in the UK. Manchester is about an hour away, a simple journey across the M62, while Liverpool is a little further west on the same route. Similarly, the M1 is easily joined from Leeds, providing fast motorway access to London, while the A1(M) links Leeds to Scotland and the north.

A couple of miles out of the city centre, Stourton boasts extensive bonded warehousing facilities where goods can be stored free of customs duty and VAT. Currently handling around 85,000 containers a year, Stourton provides a major base for the region’s intercontinental exports and imports.

Sea legs

Hull and the Humber ports are just an hour’s drive to the east, serving more than 50 countries and 70 ports worldwide. Liverpool’s ports are equally accessible and have enjoyed record numbers of cargo in recent years.

In short, Leeds is quick and simple to get to and from, making it an ideal base for both businesses and individuals looking to operate nationally and internationally.