Manufacturing
Leeds City Region has the highest concentration of high-value manufacturers in the UK, combining academic and research centres of manufacturing excellence with a worldwide reputation for technical and scientific capabilities.
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 generating £7 billion a year, or 12% of Leeds City Region’s economic output.
Leeds City Region’s strength in manufacturing builds on the region’s industrial heritage and the strong links between academic research and production.
The region’s nine universities produce over 15,000 STEM graduates each year, while the LEP has also supported nearly 540 manufacturing apprentices and made significant investments in facilities to train the next generation of engineers.
These include the £5 million Kirklees College New Process Engineering Centre and the £11 million University Technical College in Leeds, which specialises in engineering.
More broadly, institutions like Huddersfield’s 3M Buckley Innovation Centre, the Biorenewables 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 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 that can benefit from the agency’s world leading research capacities.