Shared services

Leeds is making a name for itself as home to a significant, diverse and growing cluster of shared service centres and outsourcing operations, attracted to the city by its skilled labour pool and excellent value for money office accommodation.

Shared service centres in Leeds are found in both the private and public sectors, spanning a broad range of functions from finance and accounting through to HR and IT services. A detailed report is available setting out the advantages of Leeds as a location for shared services centres. Download the report.

The global IT centre for international law firm DLA Piper is based in Leeds. Other high-profile overseas operators with shared service centres based in the city include US manufacturer Diebold, whose finance and accounting processing centre covering Europe, Middle East and Africa is locate in Leeds.

There is also a significant cluster of national operations in the city, performing a range of functions including finance and accounting, payroll, HR and IT services.

In the public sector, the NHS, Environment Agency and British Waterways have shared service centres in Leeds covering shared business services, human resources, finance and accounting.

Private sector presences include GE Money’s UK human resources service centre and Premier Farnell’s finance, human resources and legal teams. The surrounding city region hosts the shared services operations of Northern Foods, Virgin Media and DEFRA.

Leeds is also home to a range of big name outsourcing companies, including Capita, Northgate, Ceridian and the HQ of Ventura.

In Cushman&Wakefield’s UK Cities Monitor 2008, Leeds features in the top two nationally for ‘best place for a new back office function’ and ‘best place for a new call centre’.

Universities in the Leeds city region produce over 34,000 graduates annually, including over 1,100 in modern languages and over 1,600 in IT-related courses.

Average gross weekly earnings for full time employees in Leeds are £465 (GB average £491). Leeds salaries are generally lower than those in London, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol (Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2009).

Leeds’ diverse population and popularity with overseas students have given it a large pool of foreign language speakers.

Leeds offers a diverse range of connectivity options – 100 per cent of exchanges are ADSL enabled and significant bandwidth is available within five metres of every business in Leeds city centre and all office parks.

In a recent survey by Opal Broadband, Leeds was in the top five for speed of broadband connectivity.

Leeds’ strengths in the financial and business services sector and its reputation as a contact centre hub have led to a fertile business climate for shared services, due to the strong infrastructure, supplier and labour networks this has created.

[Last update 5/7/10]