Leeds City Region is best placed to address the challenges for the future of manufacturing and provides the perfect location for companies looking to grow, innovate and improve efficiency.
With the greatest concentration of high-value manufacturers in the UK, and renowned for its scale, diversity and excellence, Leeds City Region is well placed to shape the rapidly changing manufacturing environment, as well as capture the opportunities it presents.
The Ernst & Young annual Attractiveness Survey in 2018 confirmed Leeds City Region’s strength in attracting international investment, with the wider Yorkshire and the Humber area recording the highest number of manufacturing projects in the UK.
The UK is seeing a resurgence of high-value manufacturing, and Leeds City Region has a worldwide reputation for its technical and scientific capabilities in metrology, robotics, materials and the digitalisation of manufacturing.
Leeds City Region has 7,300 manufacturing and engineering businesses, two-thirds of which are specialists in advanced processes, R&D and product development. These businesses employ 144,000 people, representing the largest manufacturing base in the UK and generate £7 billion a year, or 12% of Leeds City Region’s economic output.
Leeds City Region also has a network of established academic and research centres of manufacturing excellence.
Institutions like the 3M Buckley Innovation Centre in Huddersfield, the Bio-renewable Development Centre in York and research at the Universities of Bradford and Leeds show the collaborative and open approach our region takes to the future of manufacturing processes.
In addition, the National Physical Laboratory, the UK’s National Measurement Agency has its only facility outside London here, specifically chosen in order to be close to a concentration of high value engineering firms who can benefit from the agency’s world leading research capacities.
The region’s nine universities produce over 15,000 STEM graduates each year, while the LEP has also supported nearly 540 apprentices to begin their career in manufacturing.
There has also been significant investment in facilities to train the next generation of engineers, such as the £5 million Kirklees College New Process Engineering Centre and the £11 million University Technical College in Leeds that specialises in engineering.
Our event planning team can work with leading industry figures and venues which harbour innovation across the sector to build an event proposition for you which capitalises on the scale and diversity of the manufacturing sector which exists in the city region.
With access to hard economic facts, case studies from leading companies and business support packages available, find out how we can help you make the case for investing in West Yorkshire. Contact our experts for more information. All of our services are complementary, confidential and tailored to your needs.
Expansion and relocation of a medical precision engineering company
Luxury fashion brand Burberry has arrived in Leeds city centre with the opening of its new Burberry Business Services office at 6 Queen Street.