Key investments can make Leeds the ‘digital capital of the north’

Leeds has the potential to become the ‘digital capital of the north’ with the help of locations such as the South Bank area of the city, senior business leaders were told at a recent event.

A panel of speakers, including Leeds City Council chief executive Tom Riordan and chair of Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership Roger Marsh OBE, agreed that the Leeds City Region’s position as an existing digital centre of excellence should be further capitalised on through the regeneration of key strategic property sites.

These sites will provide a boost to the regional economy, increase employment and enhance the skills base.

However, the audience of senior business leaders were also told that this should not come at the expense of the City Region’s more traditional but equally important sectors such as financial and professional services.

Priority sector areas were discussed as property adviser, Bilfinger GVA, launched its latest research, ‘Northern Powerhouse: Realising its full potential’, at an event attended by more than 100 people at Aspire in Leeds on Tuesday.

According to the latest research on the Northern Powerhouse, short term investments or project delivery is crucial to the medium to long term success of the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

Dale Robinson, director, planning, development and regeneration at Bilfinger GVA in Yorkshire, explained the key findings of the report. It focuses on key sectors for growth including advanced manufacturing, energy, digital, health, education, financial and professional services and logistics.

Mr Robinson said: “Our Northern Powerhouse report examines the opportunities for growth across each of the core cities across the northern region and what these cities offer investors and developers, both locally and nationally.

“Whilst the Northern Powerhouse is a long term ambition, there is a need to deliver in the short term to ensure momentum. Investment tends to follow investment. We should not underestimate the importance of ‘quick win’ projects, and the need to fast-track the delivery of projects that are stalled or delayed. As the saying goes, ‘if you build it, they will come’, although to maximise its impacts and contribution it must be supported by a coherent investment proposition.”

The panel of speakers, which also included AQL chief executive Adam Beaumont, Scarborough Development Group development director Lee Savage, the CBI’s assistant director Guy Parker, and Bilfinger GVA regional senior director Ben Hall, all agreed that collaboration was key to help get commercial property projects off the ground.

Roger Marsh OBE added: “The North of England has a unique opportunity to create an economy that is a third bigger than it is today by 2050, generating over a million more jobs across our key sectors. Within the digital sector, Leeds City Region has the opportunity to become globally recognised in areas such as data storage and cyber security, while in the health sector there are tremendous growth opportunities for our City Region, particularly in the fields of medical devices, technology and informatics.

“We are making incredible progress, which has been referenced at the highest level of Government with the Prime Minister stating, ‘The Partnership has achieved phenomenal success here’, but this is just the start. Our City Region is championing the ‘good growth, good lives’ agenda and it’s crucial that we continue our collaborative approach if we are to achieve our ambitions and deliver a growth which will readdress the country’s economic balance and benefit future generations.”