With over 5 million people and 270,000 businesses contributing to an economy now worth over £80 billion, this region ranks among the top third of the world’s national economies alongside countries including Ireland, Greece, Norway and Singapore. Growth has outpaced the European average for the last five years, and the region is home to five of the world’s top ten companies. Its five great cities have become the drivers of business growth.

Bradford’s GDP is around £6 billion, annual exports run at £700 million, while its manufacturing base has recorded a rise of 2.8% in employment (25% of all employment), making it the third largest manufacturing sector in the UK. Its service sector contains IT, financial services and environmental technologies, and is predicted to deliver an extra 6,000 new jobs in the city, 2,000 of which will be graduate positions. Wool and textiles are still important in its economy, but today’s fastest-growing employment sectors are the professional, commercial and service industries (including tourism worth £400 million a year), and high-technology, scientific and computer-based industries. Start-ups account for 12% of its businesses. Bradford enjoys a university ranked second in the UK in terms of graduate employment, and a thriving college. The area includes 37 parks and ten English Heritage sites.

Hull (population 250,000, annual business turnover £8 billion) has superb rail links and three international airports nearby. It is a city-port, offering freight and passenger services to destinations throughout Europe and beyond, as the principal maritime commercial centre on Britain’s east coast. Its international trading history is reflected in a manufacturing base, with many firms processing feedstuff and foodstuffs, timber, chemicals, paints and varnishes. Others service maritime operations including fishing, shipping, transport, distribution, banking and insurance. Manufacturing now includes aircraft production, abrasives, can manufacture, bottling machines, medical and surgical goods, drugs and clothing, and using modern technology, while another area of recent development has been petrochemicals. The fishing industry, of course, has greatly declined, being replaced to some extent by offshore services, clothing, electronics and computer processing, food additives, and processing, commodity dealing and distribution, and laser and other specialised high-technology development. The port has transformed into one of the best-equipped freight- and passenger-carrying centres in the country, linking to excellent transport routes. Its highly rated university reflects the fact that Hull is a young city, with 25% of the population aged under 20, while 5 million visitors contribute £210 million to its economy annually.

Leeds (GVA of £15 billion, population 750,000 – the second largest of any metropolitan district in England) is the economic capital of the Yorkshire and Humber region, and has a workforce approaching 500,000. It is one of the UK’s top 15 employment centres, and one of the largest UK financial and business service centres, with around 111,000 jobs. Leeds is another large manufacturing centre, with 1,800 businesses employing some 39,000 people, with strengths in advanced engineering, printing, chemicals and food industries. Service industries (including local government) provide 80% of the total employment, while the e-service, media, communications and advertising sector is growing by 10% a year, and its two universities attract some 200,000 students.

With a GDP worth over £7 billion a year and economic growth ahead of the national average, Sheffield (population more than 500,000 and one of the UK’s richest cities) has a powerful economy. National companies have based strategic operations in the city, which is also home to market-leading creative, digital media and ICT operations. Sheffield is a centre of digital specialism, including games, animation, film and TV, video, sound, radio and photography businesses. England’s fourth-largest city has shopping, leisure and cultural centres. Its economy was built on the steel, engineering and cutlery industries, and, while it is still a huge manufacturing and metals centre (annual output £1.2 billion), it has recently seen growth in service industries. Meadowhall is Europe’s largest shopping and leisure complex, averaging 400,000 visitors a week, while the city also hosts world-famous sporting and cultural events. The Peak District is very close by, and it has a flourishing university.

York has a dynamic business environment and a knowledge-based economy. Significant investments in local manufacturing operations and growing government relocation have confirmed the importance of the city as a high-quality environment. Science City is a cluster for knowledge and commerce, centred on York University to bring academic ideas and business applications of technology together to help innovative companies. This initiative now plays host to 54 companies and 3,700 scientists. Over 100 IT and digital companies are based within the city, employing more than 2,400 people. The city’s economy also blends manufacturing, particularly food and engineering, with a growing importance as a business and tourism centre (10,000 conferences a year and the National Railway Museum, Castle Museum and Jorvik Viking Centre). Four million visitors a year spend £291 million and create nearly 10,000 jobs. Its university is in the top rank, with over 21,000 students and above-average exam results.

The region contains over 1,000 square miles of national parkland, including the Yorkshire Dales, and along its 120-mile stretch of coastline lies Robin Hood’s Bay, with its famous warren of tunnels used by smugglers during the eighteenth century. It also has 3,000 listed buildings, eight universities, three higher education colleges and 42 further education colleges to educate a 2.5 million-strong workforce.
 

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