Key Facts

• Leeds has received a string of accolades and bas been named one of the best places in Europe to locate a business (Cushman&Wakefield European Cities Monitor).

• £4.3 billion has been invested in commercial property development in Leeds over the last ten years and a further £7 billion of projects are under construction or in the pipeline.

• Leeds is the major employment centre in the region. Around 420,000 people work in Leeds and the city is expected to generate over a quarter of employment growth in the region over the next ten years.

• Leeds is the UK's largest centre for financial and business services outside London with over 30 national and international banks based in the city.

• There are over 60,000 degree students at Leeds' two internationally acclaimed universities.

• Named the best shopping destination in the UK by the Rough Guide to Britain, Leeds city centre has 980 shops and is the region's prime shopping destination.

• Leeds is linked by rail to London Kings Cross, with a journey time of just over two hours, and to major European business and holiday destinations via Leeds Bradford International Airport.
  
• Major national and regional attractions located in Leeds include the Royal Armouries, Henry Moore Institute, Harewood House and West Yorkshire Playhouse, which stages more productions than any other theatre outside of London.
  

• The wider Leeds city region, which brings together Leeds, Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Selby, Wakefield and York as a single economic unit, has a labour force of over 1.5 million and a combined GVA of £46 billion.

• Over two-thirds of the Leeds district is covered with green belt land and the city centre is less than 20 miles from the Yorkshire Dales National Park.