Leeds business review

LEEDS BUSINESS REVIEW

EXCLUSIVE FIRST PEEK INSIDE VICTORIA

GATE

LAW.FINANCE.TEXTILES.ARTSANDENTERTAINMENT.RETAIL. DEVELOPMENT.TOURISM.TRANSPORT.DIGITAL.SPORT.MEDIA. FOODANDDRINK.

LeedsBusinessReview

CONTENTS

PAGE 4 UNFAIR ARTS GRANTS NEW TECH CENTRE

PAGE 5 PAGE 6 MORE FUNDING FOR LEEDS THE LEEDS TROLLEY BUS AREA JAM

PAGE 8 LEEDS DIGITAL PR BOOM

PAGE 10 THE LEEDS CRANE SURVEY

PAGE 16 PAGE 14 LEEDS RETAIL FOURTH IN UK LEEDS BUSINESS WEEK

PAGE 12 GREEN LIGHT FOR VICTORIA GATE

PAGE 21 THE LAST DAYS OF THE YEP?

PAGE 22 25 YEARS OF FIRST DIRECT

PAGE 24 PAGE 26 LEEDS IS TOP DOG OF NEW TOUR DE LEEDS BUSINESSES

PAGE 28 LEEDS AFTER THE LONDON OLYMPICS

PAGE 30 PAGE 31 LEED’S DESIGNERS SKY HIGH LEEDS PENSION SCHEMES SUCCESS

Page 2 January 2014 LeedsBusiness Review

Editorial

s ’ r to

. r te

t e L

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Alexander Almond Editor

It’s been a huge year for Leeds both economically and culturally, with the arrival of Trinity Leeds, a great spaceship of a shopping centre that is loads better than anything in Manchester ever. (AND Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle). Not only that, but looming large over the cities’ centre the new arena has brought a with it an air of grandeur sorely missed.

This review however, takes a big old look towards 2014 and the future of Leeds’ business that, unlike the weather, is a bright one. From Leeds’ grand depart - when the worlds largest annual sporting event starts in our city (stick that in your bicycle pump, London) - plus an inside view of Leeds’ first business week., to a controversial trolleybus scheme that is dividing the city, Leeds is clearly a city undergoing a serious makeover.

Leeds isn’t holding back on building either. According to Deloitte, and it’s annual influential crane survey, demand for floor space in the city has risen by 68% in the last year. It has also moved to fourth, from seventh, in the national retail ratings. We sent the redoubtable

HELLO, or should I say bonjour and welcome to the January 2014 Leeds Business Review The city is clearly growing. After the success of Trinity Leeds yet another new shopping centre, even more glamorous that the last, is set to go up in near Kirkgate Market. Lydia Taylor, our very own fashion junkie, explores the issues surrounding the 110,000sq meter, £600m, Victoria Gate development.

This is a truly inspired and stunning piece of architecture and we look towards the furture of this massive project.

Elsewhere in this issue we look at those changes. David Bowers, our finance correspondent extraordinaire, celebrates 25 years of First Direct, one of the companies that has transformed Leeds into the UK’s second-largest financial centre.

What’s more, a new “tech centre” to rival Londons silicon roundabout, is ready to spin out of the Broad Gate building in the city centre, an exciting prospect, set to bring hundreds of new jobs to the city, is investigated further by our own Lewis Kavanagh.

We get close up to new local businesses and entrepurial newcomers, including an award-winning textiles designer and Leeds quirky dog food creator of ‘Top Collar’, also, Dan Whitelegg takes a look at the boom in Leeds’ small PR companies and their future.

The content of this review is testament to a city on the up, and then some. If you thought Leeds’ plans for 2013 were big then think again. As in the dregs of economic downturn the city stands tall and defiant in classic Yorkshire form.

With business literally booming, Leeds is set to become a European as well as national heavyweight in the business sector, and we look forward with excitment and interest to its future.

Yours, Alex Almond

Page 3 January 2014 Leeds Business Review

News

LEEDS AND Partners has secured over £500,000 of funding from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) to grow tourism in the city, increase visitor spend and boost employment in the sector.

The money was provided from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF), a £3.2billion fund helping companies across the country create jobs. The sum of the money will be distributed until 2017 throughout a number of ‘rounds’.

The city received £6.4m in round one and helped support the German confectionary giant, Haribo, which recently unveiled its plans for a new £92million factory creating almost 300 jobs in Yorkshire.

The Government has announced that the fifth round of the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) is open to businesses across the country wanting to bid for a share of the funding.

The spending round allocation in June last year made a further

AttributionNoncommercialNo Derivative Works Some rights reserved by Caspian Media

Ciamhne Boakye Transport

£500K FUNDING FOR TOURISM SECURED

BY LEEDS GROUP £600m available for Round five and six bids.

Media Officer at Leeds and Partners, Sharon Nall, said: “[Leeds and Partners] has since delivered the first phase of a series of targeted ‘Discover Leeds’ campaigns; the first investment of its type in the city in 10 years.

“Looking ahead, the campaign will be developed on the international stage, promoting key business sectors and featuring some of the people that are helping to shape the city and the wider region.”

The matched funding secured

“The campaign will be developed on the international stage, promoting key business sectors and featuring some of the people that are helping to shape the city”

by Leeds and Partners is part of ‘Growing Tourism Locally’, a RGF Tourism Investment Project led by the national tourist board, VisitEngland, which aims to enliven the leisure tourism market and to grow local economies through increased tourism activity by UK residents.

Lurene Joseph, Chief Executive of Leeds and Partners added: “The funding is fantastic news both for Leeds and for the tourism businesses that help make our city the success it is.

As well as creating hundreds of new jobs in the tourism sectors.”

CAPITAL GAIN FOR ARTS Ewan Smith Arts and entertainment

GOVERNMENT SPENDING on arts and culture in London is 15 times higher than anywhere else in England, a report has shown.

The report shows that the division of tax funded grants is the equivalent of £69 per person in London, compared to £4.60 in the rest of the country.

These funds, distributed by the Arts Council England (ACE) and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), are indicative of “a pattern of public funding that favours London”, according to the report entitled Rebalancing Our Cultural Capital.

“A trend to enhance the imbalance has been consistent for at least 30 years. During this period successive Governments and Arts Councils have acknowledged the imbalance but argued that it would need a significant new injection of funds to enable redress.”

Those in support include the broadcaster and author, Melvyn Bragg. He said: “London is

Page 4 | January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

simply eating up the resources, which are limited, and is therefore starving the rest of the country.”

Read how the Tour de France will boost the Leeds economy on pages 24 and 25

The imbalance is not limited to government-sourced arts funds.

The National Lottery claims it raises over £35million for National Lottery Good Causes, which is then distributed by the DCMS and ACE, but similarly to the government spending, it is centralised around the capital.

The report reads: “Arts Council distribution of its £3.5billion of new National Lottery funding has provided benefit to London of £165 php against £47 php in the rest of England over the 18 years of the Lottery to date.”

News

UNIVERSITY LEADS CANCER RESEARCH The campaign provides patients undergoing tissue removal procedures the chance to donate leftover tissue surplus to the bank. The four centres around the UK will store the tissues in freezers before distributing them to clinicians for use in research.

Jenny Gibbon Health

Uma Ekbote, the tissue bank coordinator, said: “We are giving patients the chance to help other patients and facilitate research, by providing the very core element needed to carry out vital research work faster.”

LEEDS UNIVERSITY is one of four leading research centres across the country providing a tissue bank for research into breast cancer.

further promote Leeds on the healthcare map.”

Read how fat suits are aiding obesity on page 20.

Professor Valerie Spiers, expert in breast cancer and molecular biology at Leeds University, added: “It’s great to be a part of the research involved in this campaign and

Following concerns over the numbers of tissue samples available analysis, the bank, launched by Cancer Research UK.

The charity also has backing from ASDA’s Tickled Pink campaign. Their national charity partnership manager, Lisa Burnett, said: “Developing the tissue bank is a key area of research needed to overcome breast cancer by 2050. Tickled pink helps fund the very best scientists across the country as well as the four Tissue Banks. We believe passionately in helping make a world without breast cancer, and since 2005 have funded seventy nine research grants through Tickled Pink.”

The tissue bank hopes to become a centre for international research during 2014.

Lewis Kavanagh Employment

KPMG HAS finalised an agreement to take the remaining space left in Leeds City Centre’s Broad Gate building in a significant investment that will see the firm create 200 new jobs.

KPMG, one of the largest accounting firms in Europe, has 22 offices across the UK and is expanding its base in Leeds.

According to the firm, it has selected Leeds for the investment due to the availability of a skilled population. KPMG stated: “Leeds, and Broad Gate in particular, also delivered on KPMG’s requirement for high quality, flexible space with strong public transport links.”

Elizabeth Riddler from Leedsbased estate agents, Knight Frank, said: “Broad Gate is the

Picture Courtesy of Lewis Kavanagh

KPMG CREATE 200 NEW JOBS

Broad Gate; The home to 200 new jobs in Leeds City Centre perfect fit for KPMG. “This deal underlines that the office market in the city, which was understandably quiet during the recent recession, is now starting to flourish again.”

Over the last decade, total jobs in finance and business services grew by 29%, compared with 20% for the UK. The investment in the Broad Gate building reinforces the idea that the finance and business sector continues to provide growth to the number of jobs in Leeds.

“Our investment in this national operation underlines KPMG’s belief in and commitment to Leeds as an excellent base from which to do business”

at KPMG, said: “We will be recruiting roles on a contract basis via an agency which will be seeking to recruit locally.

There are a variety of roles we expect to be created, from case reviewers to mathematics experts, and quality control to customer relationship roles.”

“The KPMG Leeds partner group regularly bang the drum for Yorkshire during our travels so we are delighted to have been able to influence a national investment decision to the benefit of the region.”

Alison Anderson, corporate communications manager

January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview | Page 5

Transport

THE GREAT LEEDS TROLLEYBUS CONTROVERSY NGT respond to

protestors acting against the Leeds trolleybus

Images courtesy of Metro

Alex Harter

Transport

SINCE IT was announced that the Department for Transport (DfT) had approved the route for the Leeds trolleybus scheme in July 2012, the New Generation Transport system (NGT) has been met with a mixture of reactions by the people of Leeds. Protesters took to the streets in October demanding the

trolleybus scheme be stopped, stressing that hundreds of trees would be cut down and buildings would be demolished. NGT have since responded to the protests surrounding the trolleybus, on track to be built 2018/2019, in a public announcement.

“Toproject, achieve the some trees

“

Trolleybus: Projected image of what the trolley bus would look like

will inevitably have to be felled

The new transport system is costing £250m and will be a nine mile long route with stops proposed at Holt Park via Headingley, Hyde Park, city centre (including stops at the universities) and finally terminating at Stourton with a Park & Ride facility.

When asked what their response was to the protestors, Metro’s NGT project assistant, Tom Hacker, said: “The scheme is attempting to avoid tree loss wherever possible; however to achieve the project, some trees will inevitably have to be felled.

There have been nearly 1000 formal objections lodged with the DfT since its announcement. Protestors formed a human sign post protest in Leeds city centre in early October last year holding signs reading “Stop the trolleybus” and “Small businesses bankrupt”.

“The most notable areas of expected tree loss are behind the Arndale centre in Headingley and on the A660 central reserves either side of Lawnswood Roundabout. Where trees are unable to be retained, we aim to provide three replacement trees for each tree removed.”

Page 6| January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

to ng eds

in more detail the full impact on property along the route.”

The Yorkshire Evening Post recently published a list of 20 properties earmarked for demolition to make way for the trolleybus route. Buildings set to be demolished include the Church on Alma Road, 2 Victoria Road, the shops and petrol station on the northbound side of Otley Road, 6 Wood Lane and 14/15 Eldon Terrace. However, there is not a limit to the amount of buildings that may face demolition and more could be later announced.

Hacker stressed that effort has been made by the NGT project team to minimise the extent of any building demolition as a consequence of the NGT trolleybus system.

“As the Promoters already own the majority of the buildings affected, occupiers have been made fully aware of the NGT proposals. Following the recent design update, work is underway to assess

The Leeds trolleybus was drawn up as a cut-price replacement for the Leeds Supertram, a proposed light rail system estimated to cost £500m. The Supertram was scrapped by Labour government ministers in 2005 because of rising costs.

Metro insist that the positives that the city will reap from the scheme outweigh the negatives. The NGT system is set to create up to 4000 new jobs, offer an energy efficient alternative to travel, and overall improve journey times as the trolleybus will not be subject to the same delays that buses face.

Hacker said: “We are currently working on the assumption that travelling on NGT will cost the same as travelling on a standard bus. Unfortunately we are not yet at the point where we can confirm what the exact price will be given they will not be operating until around 2020.”

For more development go to page 10

Map of the trolleybus route

THE RISE AND FALL OF DIGITAL PR

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sReview

Digital

Leeds skyline

Investigating the future of Digital PR Daniel Whitelegg

Digital

which makes it the strongest digital focus outside of London. Therefore it only makes sense that digital PR goes from strength to strength in a city that understands new media better than most.

This has resulted in a new breed of public relations as digital PR begins to replace the old school methods of palm pilots and red pens.

Leeds has seen a surge in successful digital PR and marketing firms over the last few years with an array of award winning companies scattered throughout the city. Finn PR agency for instance, based just shy of the city centre, swept the board in 2012 with a plethora of awards including ‘best use of social media’ and ‘best digital campaign’. Stickyeyes, another Leeds based firm, won four prizes at the recent UK search awards including ‘best use of PR in a search campaign’ and the ‘Grand Prix’ award which goes to the best of the best.

Nowhere can this trend be seen more than in the digital hub of the North, Leeds. There are nearly 3,500 creative and digital firms in and around Leeds

Huge brands such as Converse, Radley and Lucozade all use Leeds based digital PR agencies to promote their name.

Digital PR differs from that of

AS COMPANIES finally take heed of the noughties kids who urged them to move into the 21st century, the online corporate footprint is growing exponentially as big businesses finally begin to embrace new media.

Page 8 | January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

traditional PR as it is more of a two way conversation. Traditional methods didn’t stray too far from the stereotypes of having contacts at news organisations to spin some positive media coverage and then editing hard copy publications with big red markers. In effect though, it’s a one way relationship between the Pageand 8 the | January 2014via | LeedsBusinessRevi business media, perhaps a PR professional. Digital PR is much more about interaction, with social media being the main focus. Networks such as Facebook and Twitter enable a business to tap into their target audiences lives where they are likely to be much more receptive to messages.

Chris Norton, head of Prohibition PR in Headingley, believes it is necessary that PR moves into the digital age in order for small companies to compete against big business.

He said: “All PR should be digital because all media is digital. We write well researched articles for real people because that’s what’s going to get people to link to you and push you up the Google rankings. We’re competing against SEO’s who have big budgets whose sole aim is to get big business to the top of the page.”

Well it seems to be working so far as clients are repeatedly turning to small digital PR agencies to manage their public relations and social media presence.

There is an argument though, that suggests these small digital PR agencies

LeedsBusinessReview

FAQ

PR

What is Digital PR?

“

We write well researched articles for real people because that’s what’s going to get people to link to you and push you up google rankings.

Their niche though is slowly eroding away as everything becomes more digital and therefore conventional PR practitioners are beginning to acquire the skills which were once reserved for the technologically literate and the youth fast enough to catch on. Will Ockendon, a Leeds based PR practitioner, says: “There are more and more full service agencies cropping up but when it comes to online presence, they’re more concerned with SEO. If you want to get your website to the top of the rankings, then these will be the agencies to contact, but the majority of small digital PR companies offer something different to that.

They provide a more human touch and increase your brand awareness and

“

only have a limited lifespan as more and more traditional firms begin to take on digital elements to their work.

BusinessReviewInitially, these small agencies survived as they had a leg up on the competition as they had an unrivalled understanding of how digital worked and how they could use it to optimise a clients output.

relationship with customers in a way that’s not as easy to measure. This will ensure that the two don’t completely merge into one identity.”

The thing with the digital and creative sector is that they are always on the cusp of the next big tech and innovation. So it’s likely that just as traditional PR firms are coming round to the digitalisation of their industry, the already established digital PR companies will already be onto the newest format or medium which makes audience relations more productive than what’s currently available.

It’s that knowledge and ability to stay ahead of the competition that will ensure that Leeds digital PR companies will continue to prosper in the most successful digital city outside of the capital and that people will continue to ‘like’

Page 8 | January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

Digital PR is all about combining traditional PR with content marketing, social media and search. It transforms static news into conversations and bypassing media to speak directly to a target audience online.

Which companies in Leeds use Digital PR? Prohibition PR, Finn PR and Sticky Eyes are just a few of the agencies in Leeds that utilise technology and the modern ways of communicating to improve their services.

Why do companies use this approach?

Integrating digital PR into a company’s marketing strategy helps build brand awareness, and also helps generate more contacts, ideas and your content gets the attention of millions of people.

What will happen to the old method of PR? The Internet has transformed the media industry. As a result, the PR industry is completely different and companies have to adapt to the change because the traditional rules of PR do not work anymore.

Now, if a PR agency wishes to get its client’s audiences’ attention, a press release is no longer enough.

The online world is allowing brands to talk directly to its customers. As a result, the old methods of PR are no longer nessaccary.

Development

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DELOITTE SURVEY REVEALS TOWERING HIGH FOR LEEDS

On the up: Leeds’ economy has been boosted by the arrival of the Trinity centre

Development

THE DELOITTE Real Estate UK Cities Crane Survey 2013 has shown promising signs for the Leeds economy and its construction sector after demand for floor space has risen by 68% since 2012.

The city has seen eight new starts in 2013 and six schemes under construction, four of these coming from new office developments which have required 147,000 sq ft of floor space. This is the highest office take up Leeds has seen in six years with one quarter still remaining, giving hope that it will be the most successful take up in a decade.

Deloitte’s 2013 Crane Survey showed that student housing and retail developments had also improved since last year.

The two sectors have seen a combined total of four new starts with two schemes under construction, compared to just one scheme under construction in 2012.

According to Javelin Group, the completion of the Trinity Centre has seen Leeds move up to fourth in the UK retail rankings having previously been seventh in CACI’s Retail Dimensions report in 2012, whilst the First Direct arena is expected to generate £25million per annum and bring in one million extra visitors to the city in total.

The residential sector, however is still suffering, with no current developments taking place in Leeds during 2013.

However Barnicle has faith that this will

page 10|January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview |

soon change. “We do not expect this slow performance to last too much longer as the success of developments such as Trinity will entice both developers and residents to the city”, she says.

“

The rise in activity suggest

across the city

“

Daisy Castle Daisy Castle Daisy Castle Development Development

Angela Barnicle, head of Deloitte Real Estate Leeds believes this could have a positive impact on the city as a whole. She says: “The rise in activity suggests growing confidence in the Leeds office market and we are seeing renewed optimism and vibrancy across the city”.

Martin Farrington, director of city development at Leeds City Council agrees that these developments will have a positive impact on Leeds. He said: “In 2008 Leeds experienced a rapid contraction in development activity on the back of the world wide economic crisis. With the opening of Trinity shopping centre, the First Direct Arena and new grade A office developments starting, it is now clear that 2013 marks a significant step forward in the recovery of commercial development in the city.”

ArArts and Entertainment

BREWING INTEREST IN TETLEY

Above: Tetley’s Brewery, top right: Brewery Interior, lower right: Tetley’s Brewery lights

Ewan Smith Arts

Leeds Institution ‘The Tetley’ given a new lease of life.

THE HISTORIC Tetley Brewery building is to be opened up to the public as an art gallery. The brewery, founded in 1822 by Joshua Tetley, has been transformed since Carlsberg closed down production and left the 22 acre site in a state of dereliction.

The contemporary art gallery, run by the arts organisation Project Space Leeds has been heralded as a home for underground artists and those who may not be a commercial draw for larger galleries.

The 70 workers who were the last employees of the brewery were invited to the grand opening of the gallery, which is partly funded by the Carlsberg company, the Arts Council England and the Leeds City Council, but with the renovations that have occurred since closing they would be hard-pressed to recognise their former workspace.

With a goal of attracting 45,000 in 2014, the 189 year old building has had a total revamp before being opened to the public.

The conversion, which began in the autumn of 2012, has included creating a restaurant and bar and converting the board room into a business space. The hiring of these spaces will be used to raise funds for the gallery. However, some reminders of the building’s history still remain; the bewhiskered portraits of former directors of the brewery still stare down from the boardroom walls, and the war memorial built in 1922 in remembrance of the 25 workers who lost their lives in the war, and the 236 other employees that served in the conflict, stands resolute in the main reception hall.

been put in in the 1960’s. The whole space has been reopened with lots of lovely natural light flooding in, a perfect space for contemporary art.”

The first exhibitions in the gallery are to be “A New Reality”, in which James Clarkson will create exhibits with objects he found during the building’s renovation, and Emma Rushton and Derek Tyman’s ‘Fear of the Surplus’ installation, a hand-crafted stage for the debate of “work, labour and welfare”.

With a ten-year lease of the building from the Carlsberg company, the Project Space Leeds group will by no means be resting on their laurels after a successful launch; plans for the future are already being In a city built upon the twin spires of concocted, including something special to industrialism and creativity, the brewery coincide with the bicentenary of Joshua gallery bridges the gap between a Tetley & Sons Ltd Brewing company. bygone age and a cultural hub; it has been With many objects, artefacts and described by members of Project Space documents from the building’s extensive Leeds as a potential home for less history being left in the brewery after it was renowned artists, closed, plans are while not trying to “In a city built upon the twin spires already unfolding compete with the of industrialism and creativity, the concerning a recently opened £35 brewery gallery bridges the gap historical exhibit. It million Hepworth is also being seen between a bygone age and a gallery in Wakefield. cultural hub’’ as the cornerstone of a new revitalised The Tetley director South Bank. Leeds Kerry Harker said “This is a £1.5m City Council Tom Riordan said at the project and it’s on a more modest scale. It opening, “the industrial heritage in this responds to the environment we’re in now part of the city is fantastic and what we economically.” Co-founder Pippa Hale didn’t want was a derelict building, or for it describes how the existing art-deco space to be knocked down, so what better thing has been altered for the gallery’s aesthetics; than to turn it into a contemporary art “We have an amazing central atrium gallery which the city needs.” gallery, which has been created by knocking out some of the floors that’d

January 2014|LeedsBusinessReview|Page11

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Retail

LEEDS: NEVER KNOWINGLY UNDERSOLD

Victoria Gate: due to open by August 2016

Leeds welcomes new shopping centre

Lydia Taylor Retail

store can now properly begin” explains Jeremy Collins, property director for John Lewis. “We believe it will regenerate the area and help the city move up in the rankings of shopping destinations in the UK.”

Victoria Gate will be home to a number of high quality designer brands, along with a flagship John Lewis store, other retail outlets, many cafes, restaurants and leisure spaces and a multi-storey car park holding up to 800 cars. Leeds City Council and project developers Hammerson are working together to create the scheme.

The scheme will offer a low carbon energy centre next to the site, allowing green heating, natural air conditioning and enough electricity for the development and surrounding retailers and home-owners.

The introduction of solar panels and natural ventilation systems will be part of this energy efficient development ensuring no costly and environmentally damaging consequences of the retail centre.

“We have been working with Leeds City Council and Hammerson for a long time now and getting planning approval means the steps to creating a flagship John Lewis

Page 12 | January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

“Leeds City Council is very excited about the project,” explains Rowena Hall,

Pictures courtesy of Hammerson Group

AFTER PLANNING approval of the Victoria Gate development at the end of September 2013, phase one is set to begin during spring 2014. The 110,000m2, three- phase project is expected to be completed by August 2016.

executive manager, City Development Department, “We have been working closely with Hammerson over the past few years to bring forward what is set to be an outstanding new retail and leisure development.”

Hall continues: “The scheme is considered to offer a unique opportunity to create a new, vibrant retail led development, transforming an unfinished corner of the city centre and bringing wider physical, environmental, social and economic, regeneration benefits for Leeds. It will also prove to be a catalyst in the wider regeneration of surrounding areas including Kirkgate Market, the Grand Arcade and Quarry Hill.”

The development aims to capture Leeds’ heritage and continue with the artistic structures its arcades are so famous for. With the help of architecture firm ACME, the project will offer two arcades linking the structures being developed and those already in place, like the Victoria Quarter. The flagship John Lewis store will also have an outer layer taking inspiration from the textile industry Leeds is historically known for.

“Victoria Gate will be a welcome addition to Leeds’ retail scene,” explains Victoria Bartram, account manager at Hammerson, “Trinity has already raised retailers’ and consumers’ aspirations of the city and has delivered space for well-loved high street brands.”

“Victoria Gate will strengthen Leeds’ positioning as the leading retail destination in the North, while at the same time adding value to Leeds’ local economy and community, we want to attract premium and aspirational retailers to Victoria Gate and are currently in discussions with some.”

Clare Poolman, project support officer at Leeds City Council describes the possible impacts for the scheme: “Victoria Gate is significant in that it will bring a vacant site back into use, regenerating this part of the city centre and bringing new anchor retailers to Leeds like John Lewis.

Trinity has already increased the catchment of Leeds, with additional new visitors from the west, north and east plus had international PR due to the fact that it was the only shopping centre development in Western Europe in 2013.

Trinity re-established Leeds as a significant city destination nationally and we would expect this trend to continue, even accelerate, with Victoria Gate.”

The £600m retail development will be based mainly between the A64 and the West Yorkshire Playhouse, which has been unoccupied for decades. Sharon Nall from Leeds and Partners explains: “Following a public consultation held earlier in 2013, more than 91% of respondents said they were in favour of the site being regenerated.”

The introduction of Victoria Gate will not only be sustainable and en-

vironmentally friendly but also help Leeds City Council in their quest to be the best city in the UK. Movement to fourth position in the largest retail centre in the UK is expected for 2014, but after this development Leeds will be capable of climbing even higher on the retail centre scale.

Sharon Nall, media officer at Leeds and Partners is positive on this outlook, saying: “Trinity Leeds has provided a welcome boost to the economy through job creation and tourism. It has been a landmark development for Leeds in 2013 and has helped to provide a springboard for further investment projects, including Victoria Gate.”

Pictures courtesy of Hammerson Group

Retail

LEEDS MOVES UP IN THE RETAIL RANKS Leeds to become the fourth biggest centre in Britain thanks to recent retail boom The city holds a large number of retail outlets all adding to its score card, but many cities continually manage to overtake Leeds. However, looking at the footfall stats and Trinity’s 120 shops to add to the city, Leeds possesses a chance of ranking higher.

Lydia Taylor

Retail

SINCE THE development of the Trinity Centre began there has been discussions about Leeds moving up in the rankings of largest retail centre. Nine months on from the opening of the centre, has it achieved its goals? The official league table of results will not be released until May 2014 but Europe’s leading specialist retail and ecommerce consultancy Javalin Group say they have succeeded in moving up to fourth place.

In an evaluation document on Trinity’s impact since its opening, Andrew Dudley from Land Securities explains: “We have been thrilled with the early success of Trinity Leeds; more than 132,000 people visited on launch day, and footfall hit five million just four months later in July since the opening day.”

Now, Trinity Leeds has received up to 14 million shoppers since the opening, but this may not be enough. The official league table of results, devised by company CACI, works on a different ranking system to Javalin.

“The CACI rank cities by totalling credit card/transaction spend in city centres on an annual basis so we believe Leeds will go up in the rankings in the 2014 release of the CACI results because they will include the Trinity transactions,” said Sophia Ditta, assistant policy and “The principal mover at the top of the information officer at Leeds City Council. rankings is Leeds which, following the Where Javalin use points CACI allows recent opening of Trinity, Leeds has for more risk as certain shops may not moved into fourth place behind Glasgow, achieve the turnover goals expected, Manchester and Birmingham,” a statement meaning that Leeds’ place in the rankings from the Javalin Group explains. may not be secure.

Javalin group data have devised a complex ranking system entitled venuescore. The scoring system they have created deciphers retail centres and their success in different cities, from Harrods to Poundland.

Currently the centre of Leeds is home to nearly a thousand outlets placed in numerous shopping centres, arcades and high streets. Leeds has a retail footprint of 2.3million sq ft and in the last decade, £357m has been invested in retail and leisure developments.

“Footfall has risen by 3.2% since Trinity opened – comparing the March to November period this year, with the same period last year,” explains Mark Durham, project co-ordinator at Leeds City Council.

In the CACI for 2012 Leeds stood at seventh position, however as Trinity Leeds was not built in time to affect the CACI 2012 results the effects of the shopping centre will not be revealed until May 2014 when 2013’s results have been documented.

However, Rowena Hall, executive manager at Leeds City Council explains there is still a lot of hope for the city to improve: “The Victoria Gate development is set to change our position in the retail sector as well, expanding our offer to compete with other major UK cities along with the recently opened Trinity development, which has already had a positive impact on visitor numbers moving us up in the rankings. The first phase of the Victoria Gate scheme which

Page 14| January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

Trinity’s grand opening in March 2013 will be anchored by the city’s first JohnLewis store is expected to lift Leeds further up the national retail ranking.”

Using both the Javalin and CACI formulas, Leeds is set to rise even further by 2016. Hammerson, the developers in charge of the project even claim Leeds has the capability to reach third place with the introduction of the Victoria Gate shopping centre and a flagship John Lewis store. These will allow the opportunity to enhance their score via both points and transactions over the next few years, therefore enabling the possibility for Leeds to become one of the largest retail centres in the UK.

Picture caption goes here and here and here and here and here and here and here Picture caption goes here and here and here and here and here and here and here AttributionNoncommercialNo Derivative Works Some rights reserved by EG Focus

KIRKGATE MARKET’S RENOVATION UPDATES •

Leeds City Council is forging ahead with the £12.3m plans to revamp and develop Leeds’ Kirkgate market in order to secure its future in the city.

• • • •

Ove Arup and partners are set to work with the council in order for the plans to be made and agreed on for the market.

Despite the complaints and protests plans are still set to go ahead.

The first stage of the revamp of the market as it stands has been confirmed and £1.6m has been set aside for this.

Draft plans went to the council’s executive board in December for the rest of the development but detailed plans will be submitted early this year.

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Leeds Business Week

LEEDS BUSINESSWEEK: WEEK LEEDS BUSINESS A SEVEN REPORT ANDAY OVERVIEW

Business members in Yorkshire were given a masterclass in a range of subjects during a week of informative seminars

NEW PATENT LEGISLATION SAVES COMPANIES 10%

“

COMPANIES THAT are charged corporation tax and make a profit from a patented product or process can now apply for a lower rate of tax due to the new Patent Box legislation.

Nick Dymoke-Marr of Langtons Gin along with members of Urquhart Warner Myers accountants spoke about the way this new legislation works and how businesses can benefit, as part of one of the Leeds Business Week events at Mojo bar.

Page 16 | January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

I advise any company or person with a patent or patentable idea to take advantage of this box tax

“

Alexander Almond Law

The governments’ Patent Box legislation, which HMRC put into action as of April 2013, permits any company and entrepreneur with a patented or patentable product in development or already for sale to claim Patent Box tax relief, which allows a company to cut the corporation tax on profits made by their patent by up to 10% each financial year.

Mr Dymoke-Marr, co-owner of Langtons, a locally sourced and produced Lake District Gin which has gone from strength to strength since its foundation in 2010, spoke of the advantages of the Patent Box; “I advise any company or person with a patent or patentable idea to take advantage of this box tax, as it has proved both useful and financially rewarding for me and the team here at Langtons gin”.

The Patent Box tax legislation is a great example of the advantages brought by the Leeds Business Week. Events like these highlight the importance of local

businesses and members of the industry coming together in order to build relations, educate, and further improve the business and financial sector.

Leeds Business Week

O2 REOPENS FLAGSHIP MERRION CENTRE STORE

Sally Humberstone Food

BUSINESS CELEBRITY and founder of Freeserve, Ajaz Ahmed, officially cut the ribbon on O2’s refurbished Merrion Centre store on Friday 27 September.

The franchise store, which was originally opened by Talk Direct Leeds in 2006 has been doubled in size and refurbished with meeting room facilities in a bid to win over local businesses.

As well as having the standard phone

display area at the front, the store now features a meeting room for up to 12 people, equipped with an interactive smartboard, printer service, free Wi-Fi and tea and coffee facilities, all of which businesses can book in to use for free.

Annie Burton, the business sales manager for O2 said: “O2 like to do a lot for corporate social responsibility so we wanted to provide a social environment in which we could help new businesses start up. It’s something we’re doing for the good so the immediate return on it is very little; the long term return on it is that we’re building very strong business relationships so hopefully they’ll come to us for their business contracts”.

Although the Merrion Centre has had a decline in retail success in recent years, it is a prime location for O2’s business venture: “we picked this area because one, we’re close to the arena and there’s lots of events going on there and two, because this is the business side of town, it’s closer to bond street, other local businesses and the council”.

After cutting the ribbon, Yorkshirebased Ajaz Ahmed gave an inspirational speech to around 30 local businessmen and women as part of Leeds Business Week, in which he told his story of Freeserve, an internet service provider he created at the initial stages of the internet, which he sold after three months for £1.6bn. Annie Burton commented on choosing Ajaz Ahmed as the speaker: “we always wanted someone who had built up their own business from scratch, and we also wanted someone from Yorkshire and he is. He’s phenomenally inspirational to business people because he started from nothing”.

The speech resonated well within the group, particularly Bev Wills, a local businessman who reiterated the central focus of Ajaz Ahmed’s speech: “like the man said, do the obvious before it becomes obvious to everyone else”.

Picture caption: Ajaz Ahmed opening O2’s refurbished store

LeedsBusinessReview| January 2014 |Page 17

Leeds Business Week

LEEDS BUSINESS WEEK A SEVEN DAY REPORT

HACKERS STEP THEIR GAME UP our systems, so if someone can get in via that, they can ultimately steal our passwords for personal things, so my concern now is things like my bank account. We now think we may need to look at some external safety system, It has definitely opened our eyes,” says Genevieve Bradbury, co-founder of Rock HR solutions.

Lydia Taylor Retail

“YOU ARE going to suffer a security breach in the next two years”, an expert in cyber security warned professionals during Leeds Business Week, “hackers do not care who you are, you are a target”.

Living in an ever growing network society everyone has become a target of hacking, because everyone has a personal account or digital device.

Security expert Gary Hibberd, and managing director of ‘The Agenci’ explained whether you send the wrong email, open a link you shouldn’t or lose your device, it can put you and your information at risk.

Over the years the internet has vastly grown in many ways; children from primary school age are now being requested to complete their homework through online portals. The invention and growth of social networking sites means people of all ages are becoming more familiar with the net, and over time it has become part of most people’s daily routine. In particular for business people, emails that may seem consequences of a networking event, could be potentially fake and harmful. Inventions like ‘The Cloud’ and ‘Dropbox’ have recently been introduced, to allow you to save your work outside your device, ensuring you can always access it, but do we know where this takes our documents and who controls them?

“We’re a new start up business and we have all our documents in Dropbox.

We’ve both installed the drive into

Everyone now around the age of 20 already has a digital footprint of 10 years. Hibberd wants to remind people: “You are not being hacked by a computer or software, you are being hacked by a person or group, and they are living and breathing and doing it on purpose.” People are now more invested than ever in the IT system.

So who is doing it? Today’s hackers, according to Hibberd, are young and seemingly innocent individuals that soon learn the bad possibilities of their knowledge. Generally they are male,

“Do not underestimate the problem; educate yourself.” educated, organised and have plenty of time on their hands.

The figure currently stands at one million victims a day to cyber hacking, that’s nearly 700 per minute, more than the rate babies are born. These figures show just how large the scale of hacking has become and the issues then are, when will it stop? How far can it go?

And could this potentially mean the next world war could be cyber based?

“If you think about if the whole internet came down because of this, we’d all be lost, I don’t think we’d function. Sat navigation would go down, traffic light systems would fail, radio could fail, everything, because it’s all based on web connections,” says Caroline Wood of

Page 18 | January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

Rock HR solutions.

So how and why do they do it? Firstly they look for easy targets, then they use their links to access larger organisations.

Their reasoning could consist of identity theft, stalking, vandalism, unhappiness with a certain company, revenge, theft or fraud, extortion, virus dissemination or simply for a laugh. Most people see the webs surface every day, but the deep web is where the hackers lie, along with illegal activity like drugs, pornography and terrorism. The deep web has over six trillion sites, it is boundless and so are the people that work within it.

“I got a push notification on my phone asking me if I wanted to buy fitness tablets, they’d obviously picked up that I was into health through other things.

At first I ignored it, but then I saw you could get them free and just pay the postage and packaging, so I then paid for that on my credit card. Money soon started coming out of my account that I hadn’t authorised, it was then clear to me I’d been hacked. But of course there was no trace of it because it has been done through a push email on my phone,” explained Genevieve Bradbury, co-founder of Rock HR solutions. This method is just one of many, entitled phishing. An email will go out to around two million people, in the hope that someone responds with their confidential details, showing how hackers can tempt you with offers they hope you cannot refuse.

It seems it is now more important than ever to protect yourself, to understand your threats and vulnerability. Hibberd advises people to install antivirus technology and patch management.

Create passwords and use them well, do not share them and do not use the same password for important accounts; if they get hold of one it means they will be able to access all. Look to your third parties, do you trust them? Read the terms and conditions, don’t be caught out. But most importantly Hibberd requests: “Do not underestimate the problem; educate yourself.”

Leeds Business Week

GOAL SOCCER INVEST £300K IN NEW FACILITIES

activity in the UK. Last February, Keith Rogers, the managing director of GOALS, said: “Goals Soccer Centres has established itself as the leading small sided football operator in the UK, having grown capacity by over 300% since flotation in 2004.

Farai Shongedza Finance

GOALS SOCCER Centre have confirmed plans to introduce new technologies to all their centres in an attempt to increase numbers of participants in their weekly leagues.

GOALS has 43 centres across the UK. with the Leeds centre their biggest branch, holding 18 playing pitches. Improvements to its pitches and operating system will cost upwards of £300k, but the company hopes it will increase match efficiency, bringing more realism to the leagues.

Valued at around £2.5 million per centre in 2013, GOAL managed to attract the most customers in its history, with an average of 140,000 adult players and 40,000 junior customers visiting per week.

It is hoped introducing new technologies, improved surfaces and accommodating operating system will see its revenue increase by at least a quarter.

The project which has been in the planning since early 2013 is set to be completed 2015. The plans were inspired by Sport England’s report on the participation in sports and outdoor

The management is now taking advantage of its scale and leveraging maximum value from its current estate, through partnerships with established UK brands including talkSPORT, combined with a new dedicated online social media strategy, Goals aims to further drive pitch utilisation and broaden the target audience.” Speaking on the improvements, assistant manager of the Leeds centre said; “We are aiming to attract more female customers and allow more junior teams to use our facilities to train. Our surfaces currently force a fast paced game; however the new surfaces will slow it down and therefore make it even more playable for our older customers.”

The proposed all weather synthetic pitches better replicate that of natural grass than the current astro-turf surface, therefore giving a more realistic feel and allowing more accurate training sessions for teams that play on grass.

They also aim to set up an official roster, which will give players to sign up as individuals as opposed to only being able to sign up as a team. The assistant manager said “we want to give the opportunity for anybody to enjoy

our facility, even if they don’t have enough friends to form a team.”

The Leeds centre alone brings in around £730,000 a year and manager James Townsend said “Since we are the biggest centre, most of the decisions for change go through us and then to head office. Once changes are tested here, we then determine whether they are worth implementing at the rest of the centres.” Before the London Olympics and the Paralympics, Sports England and LOCOG both set out targets for the games to achieve, and one of them was to increase sports participation nationwide.

Although participation was generally improved after the games, the organisers still failed to meet the targeted figures. Goals and other similar institutions aim to help increase the participation figures in football considerably by 2016.

Sport contributes significantly to Yorkshire’s economy. Around 45,000 people are employed in sport related employment, corresponding to 2% of total employment in Yorkshire.

Sports consumer expenture along with sports related employment have been significantly increasing annually since 2003.

Last year was one of GOALS’ most successful years managing a sales increase of 7% with profits of just over £9.5m. The project is expected to be completed by 2015.

LeedsBusinessReview | January 2014 | Page 19

News

LEEDS GRADUATE CREATES FIRST OBESITY TRAINING SUITS Health A LEEDS University graduate has seen the demand for her award-winning obesity training suits rocket.

“I started out designing hosiery for a local business before my designs began being sold in major high street stores, including Dorothy Perkins.

It was a total accident that I designed this suit. I started working freelance for a company that specialise in bariatric care. They were looking for something to help demonstrate the use of bariatric equipment, and my idea

Last November saw Ashleigh being invited to visit Buckingham Palace to help develop the awards further, and to discuss helping more young people into business, whilst she also recieved help in achieving her goal to fight childhood obesity through mentor provision.

“My dream is to work with Jamie Oliver to fight childhood obesity,” Ashleigh begins, “Not only would this be fantastic celebrity endorsement for the brand, it would also be incredible to work with a man who can really rally the troops when it comes to beating obesity.”

Next September she will be completing a doctorate in Enterprise at the University of Huddersfield, focusing on

“My dream is to work with Jamie Oliver childhood obesity”

AttributionNoncommercialNo Derivative Works Some rights reserved by Ashleigh Rodda

Ashleigh Rodda founded Bariatric Training Suits Ltd last year, and the former fashion student admits she stumbled across the idea during term time.

developed from there.”

Barely two years into her business ness venture, Bariatric Training suite Ltd have already been awarded The Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Award. The first year of the awards saw ten young entrepreneurs from across Yorkshire presented with their prestigious prizes by Prince Andrew at a ceremony hosted

by Hull University.

childhood obesity, whilst continuing to expand the market her product is aimed at.

“I am looking to sell to the education sector to help children see and feel the implications of being overweight, but also to help trainee health professionals at a higher education level too.”

Said Ashleigh.

Ashleigh and Bariatric Training Suits Ltd, is a great example of Yorkshire’s Entrepreneurial achievements, and a sample of the great things to come from young people in the develoment of the business sector.

The young entrepreneur meets Prince Andrew

TOP LAW UNIVERSITY MOVES The new centre is set to open in Leeds by September 2014, and will involve the closure of the York branch that currently hosts 368 full and part-time students, though the university have said that the move will boost these numbers to around 600.

THE UNIVERSITY of Law plans to open a new branch in a relocation to Leeds. Moving from their York offices, the number of University of Law students in the region is set to double.

The relocation, which is costing the university £1.25m, will “mean that we can offer a broader range of programmes and modes to a wider group of students in a dedicated law school.” According to university president, Professor Nigel Savage, students affected by the transfer are being consulted by the university, and will recieve packages of support,

such as help with travel costs offered on a case by case basis.

One of the main reasons behind the move, Savage states, is the size and strength of Leeds’ legal sector: “Leeds is a dynamic and thriving city with more than 150 law firms, providing a flourishing legal environment and a huge range of career opportunities for our students.” He has also said that the move will provide possible advantages for the local law industry, enabling “law firms to source high caliber law students as well as the highest quality legal training for the staff.”

The university’s plan to move has been greeted warmly by

several members of the Leeds legal community, with Irwin Mitchell and chief executive John Pickering encouraging additional involvement in the region:“We share the University of Law’s confidence in the Leeds market as a hub for legal services and welcome their planned further investment in the sector.”

With the city’s two biggest Universities, Leeds Metropolitan and the University of Leeds already having wellestablished law schools in the heart of the city, only time will tell whether the move will threaten these schools, or help boost them and the city’s already world renowned law sector.

Media

LEEDS NEWPAPER ENDURES DECLINE SUFFERS DECLINE The Yorkshire Evening Post faced an uncertain 2013

Pictures courtesy of Carl Milner

The Yorkshire Evening Post faced an uncertain 2013 papers for my news, or papers at all, I get most of my news through twitter and off the internet. If I am to buy a paper, which is very rare, I buy nationals. They give me a wider range of news so I know there will be a story that interests me in there somewhere”.

Natalie Casey

Media

Since 2011 despite the merge of the papers who boasted respectable circulation figures(just over 36,000-39,000) the papers readership seems to have continually dropped totalling just over 34,000 in the 2013 listings.

Fiona Shipler, 58, a Leeds local, said: “I don’t think we’re generally buying less papers, or that customers that have been loyal for years have stopped reading the paper, I think it’s just there’s less of us these days and the younger generations don’t get news from papers do they? My The papers troubles were highlighted in 2012 when the papers printers, Johnston kids still pick it up and flick through when Press, decided to cut costs by merging The they come to visit, but they wouldn’t go out their way. They tried to show me news on Yorkshire Post and The Yorkshire one of those iPads, I wouldn’t have a clue Evening post. if it all went that way.”

The decline of the paper is following a trend that appears to be occurring across Though readership is there it’s hard to the country with all but one paper showing tell how long print is able to survive. The Yorkshire post stands tall, grey and empty figures have continually decreased since 2011 according to ABC figures, published at the edge of Leeds, lacking life and personality since the printing moved to on holdthefrontpage.com.

Sheffield in 2012. With its demolition announced in September 2013, there seems Jenny Lowry, 23, studying in Leeds, Commented; “I don’t really look to local to be no need for the space in the future with the continual decrease in figures.

SINCE ITS founding in 1754 The Yorkshire Post has had one name change, two location changes and fluctuating circulation, with figures hitting a critical low in 2013.

Q&A Q. Why are papers declining?

A. Media content is available online, with the majority of it free to read.

Instead of producing a hard copy of a newspaper, organisations are beginning to distribute their content via a range of media platforms, which is not only more accessible, but cheaper too.

Q. What does the future hold for newspapers?

A. Media analysts predict that newspapers will become available only online. Now, media consumers would rather view content through computers, iPads, iPhones etc, and this has already had an effect on established newspapers like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, who have opted to make their content internet-only.

Q. How are media organisations attempting to stay afloat?

A. The Times have enforced a pay wall.

This means that consumers have to pay a subscribription to view online content.

January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview | Page 21

Finance

DIRECT TACTICS BOOSTS LEEDS FINANCE QUARTER First Direct celebrates 25th anniversary and the key role it’s played in turning Leeds into

First Direct opened it’s headquarters in Stourton in 1989 to Leeds becoming the 2nd largest financial district outside of London.

Finance

view

1989 SIGINALLED a revolution in Leeds. The transformation saw West Yorkshire evolve from a manufacturing hotbed to a now major international financial district - led by the arrival of First Direct.

The HSBC-owned bank started up at Arlington Business Park, a relatively modest setting two miles outside of Leeds.

Not only are they preparing to celebrate their 25th anniversary, they’re aiming to build on a legacy that’s majorly contributed

“

The Leeds accent was recognised as one which was warm and trustworthy

“When we created the idea of First Direct, we needed a site that was going to be big enough to build the kind of business we were going for, and for it to have great

Page 22| January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

“

David Bowers

Since their arrival, they’ve helped reshape the general opinion of Leeds.

Employment in the city’s financial sector grew by over two-thirds during the late eighties/ early nineties to 45,400 people, with banks becoming aware of First Direct’s success and their workforce’s high performance level.

Since opening the financial door for West Yorkshire, First Direct’s Amanda Brown explains just why Leeds was chosen and why it was such a hidden gem.

transportation links as we have large bases in Hamilton in Scotland and, of course, in London,” she said.

“We also needed a big enough pool of people to draw on and work for the bank, and a key point for us was figuring out the accent of those who would be answering customer queries.

“The Leeds accent was recognised as one which is warm and trustworthy, so we felt there was a great opportunity to build a business in Leeds.”

AttributionNoncommercialNo Derivative Works Some rights reserved by Peter Hughes

Since it opted to base it’s headquarters in Leeds with 350 employees, it has relocated

“The city had all the right ingrediants to make a successful business. You have top accountancy and law for business” down the road in Stourton in an office that houses 2800 members of staff. Since 1995, the company has made a profit every year and reported a massive turnover of £292m in 2012. It not only tops various customer satisfactions polls, but boasts an impressive 14% staff turnover average, the lowest of any UK-based financial company.

With First Direct reaping the rewards through it’s astute decision to base in Leeds, the rest followed. Financial heavyweights Aviva, Lloyds TSB and RBS have since opened regional or national offices in Leeds, whilst the Bank of England opted to place their secondary offices in the city. Brown believes that First Direct’s innovative decision to set stall in Leeds proved that there is money to be made in Yorkshire, with companies holding a great deal of trust and confidence in their Leedsbased employees.

“

“It’s gained a massive reputation in the UK and Europe and we’re definitely seeing a rise in international relations and investments, it’s something Yorkshire should be immensely proud of”.

business sector in Leeds will grow by a further 25% by the end of 2023, and First Direct are keen to take advantage of the rising workforce.

“People from Yorkshire love a chat, and sustomer service will always be at the heart of First Direct, whether it’s digitally or on the phone. People are choosing to contact their banks in different ways, we’re hoping we can follow on with the digital revolution.”

I think Leeds has stamped its mark on

“

of companies that have relocated here.

The city has reinvented itself and, according to Brown, is attracting the attention of further investors.

“The fact we were able to settle and develop so quickly gave people the confidence that the right people were living “I think Leeds has stamped its mark on finance, otherwise you wouldn’t get the type in Leeds to give this kind of success.” of companies that have relocated here.

Businesses are constantly partnering with “The city had all the right ingredients to make a successful business. You have top the local communities and trying to look accountancy firms and law firms here too, for inward relationships.” it’s a real hub of business.”

The council have predicted that With Leeds becoming a financial force in employment in the financial and the UK, the next challenge the city faces is making it become an internationally recognised player in the field, with the announcement that Leeds City Council have secured a further £20m for their Business Growth Programme, aiming to support a variety of sectors within the city, including financial and business services.

As the council attempts to build on a stratospheric quarter-century, Barclays’ Yorkshire-based bank manager Dave Howarth believes the city is well on it’s way to competing with financial hubs across the globe.

Some rights reserved by lazygamer

Not only have they contributed massively to the surge in Leeds’ financial district, they have endorsed the newly built “First Direct Arena” and Brown is expecting the venue to significantly increase tourism figures.

“We aim to build on our relationship with the arena and are excited to see that bigger names will be announced in the future. We’re immensely proud that it has been nominated as one of the top five arenas in the world, and the only one in the UK.” Leeds is becoming a major financial force and must be eternally grateful for First Direct’s risk 25 years ago. The relationship between the company and city shows no signs of floundering, and both are expected to prosper in the future. After setting a benchmark in the city, employing 2800 people and endorsing a multi-million pound venue, it’s a pleasant rarity to see a bank contribute to a city’s success.

Food

DELICIOUS DOG TREATS GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT Posh doggy nosh with a Leeds University graduate who is changing the world of dog food began when my mum volunteered for the RSPCA, we had to think of a way to raise money for the RSPCA shows I helped her out with, but I just saw business potential, people were buying these homemade biscuits.”

This ethos of quality has always been ingrained into the brand, but back in the early stages, when Sophie was 18 years old and only armed with business knowledge at an A-level standard, she took early yet important measures for Top Collar: “I basically called round Yorkshire shows and asked them whether I could sell for summertime work really, just a way to raise money.

“Making something that’s

Four years on and a degree later, Top Collar has a whole ‘Pet Menu’ worth of treats including the original IT IS NOT unheard of for recent graduates to jump to a completely different ‘Sunday Roast’ and career path, so despite graduating from Leeds University with a philosophy degree ‘Full English’ – all made and then creating an award-winning dog with locallybiscuit business within the year, Sophie sourced, human-grade ingredients and all Tregellis takes it all in her stride. tested by Sophie herself: “I’ve had every single one of my range, I have. They’re all Just like the dog treats she hand makes, human grade for starters, they don’t have to Sophie’s journey from philosopher to business owner was natural: “Top Collar be but I believe in human quality, they’re part of the family, so why wouldn’t they get

“

Sally Humberstone Food

the nutritional value of that? I wouldn’t let another dog have what I wouldn’t eat personally.”

means something to me

Page 24 | January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

AttributionNoncommercialNo Derivative Works Some rights reserved by Sophie Tregellis

think however many “Ifamilies we can make happier is good for me

“I put a lot a lot of time in to formulating the business,” she states, striking a balanced tone somewhere between both the eagerness and seriousness she feels about the business, “So our company ethos is that fresher, smaller produced food is just far more natural and good for the animal but we do so in a very fun way, so the sentence I say a lot is ‘a fun attitude to pet health’.”

And forever staying true to her ethos, Sophie has successfully appealed to wholesalers, using heat-sealed packaging, receiving interest from high-end London department store, Fortnum and Mason.

“

“The thing that made it happen was when I was in my final year of Leeds University, at a careers meeting I did obviously go on about Top Collar. So I got a business meeting set up with a gentleman called John Hodgson and he really showed me that it was a possibility because at this stage it was just a trade stand company, it was just a summer job, and it needed to be transformed into an all year round customer proposition.”

It is hard to fathom how Sophie has brought Top Collar to the attention of large companies whilst doing much of the manufacturing, marketing, socialmedia managing and selling herself – all whilst being under the watchful eye of her father, who also happens to be in risk management. The answer she gives is not the dreaded ‘it’s who you know’ but instead that she takes full advantage of her resources: “The university put me through to the Sir Peter Thomson Award, which really changed it for me – because they loved my idea and my enthusiasm, I was in there every day [Leeds University’s enterprise centre].

Sophie selling, testing and showcasing her gourmet dog

illustration work done, spent money on the contracts, so the legal and the copyright was officially ours.”

And now, as she continues to drive sales through local shows, Top Collar’s website, Ebay, Amazon, Etsy and a new treat postal service (a one of a kind idea, like Graze boxes for dogs), it would seem that there was no time for anything else – but for Sophie that’s just not the case.

“I couldn’t speak more highly about the university, they give great entrepreneurial support and continue it for 7 years after graduation, I believe.”

“I do guest speaking for Leeds University and Leeds Trinity. It helps raise a little bit of money for Top Collar and I like telling people to just follow what they should be doing – follow their passion, and success will just follow suit.”

Sophie won several cash prizes with the help of the University but it was the £5000 award that was a pinnacle moment for Top Collar: “that was my start-up for me to invest in the website, I got all the

As for her personal motivation? That’s easy: “I think being honest and making something that’s beneficial is…it means something to me. You know money

Tourism

LE TOUR DE LEEDS

LEEDS IS SET TO STAGE THE WORLD’S BIGGEST ANNUAL SPORTING EVENT, BUT WHAT LEGACY WILL IT LEAVE ON THE CITY?

QUESTIONS ARE arising about the longevity of the legacy which Le Tour Yorkshire will bring to the region in terms of tourism.

Ciamhne Boakye

Tourism

20,000 full-time equivalent jobs, and on average, the city attracts 1.5 million people for overnight stays annually and a further 10 million people visit on day trips. Hosting the first two stages will see a massive increase in tourism for Leeds and, by extension, all of Yorkshire.

The Grand Depart has been estimated to However, questions remain over the be bringing in over £100million into the economy this July and will be watched by impact it will leave on Yorkshire once the 3.5 billion people globally in 188 countries riders and visitors have moved on. around the world.

Over two million people are expected to visit for the Grand Départ; but there Playing host to the world’s largest annual sporting event on July 5 and being one of is still a lack of development distributed evenly throughout the region. The tour the top places to visit this year, according will only be in the county for two days and to Lonely Planet, is sure to put the what viewers will see of Yorkshire will be spotlight upon the region. Tourism in Leeds is already estimated to support over limited. While some areas of the region

Page 26| January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

Image courtesy of Welcome to Yorkshire

is a slight “There worry that this

opportunity won’t be fully grasped

gru

I can see the tour and TV footage appealing to.” are booming, it is still at least another two years before the Bradford hole gets refilled.

The niche market was targeted shortly after winning the Le Tour Yorkshire bid.

In August last year, it was confirmed that a 14-mile (23km) cycle route connecting Leeds and Bradford will be constructed after successfully winning £18million of government funding

Welcome to Yorkshire believe that hosting the event will raise the region’s world profile and boost the economy.

Commercial director of the official tourism agency, Peter Dodd said: “I can’t define The cash prize, awarded from the how much this will put Yorkshire tourism Department for Transport, was part of a onto the international stage.” £94million government fund to promote cycling in cities and national parks across Dr Nigel Morpeth, senior lecturer England. Proposals for the route, which of tourism management at Leeds started construction late last year, were Metropolitan University, says: “I think the originally suggested by public transport Grand Départ will bring in a very specialist organisation, Metro. Metro Chairman, group of people, niche tourists that are James Lewis, said the route would link venturing to the region because they are local residents to “employment sites, areas interested in cycling. As for more general of housing growth and key economic tourism, I am not sure whether there has regeneration sites.” been a sufficient marketing strategy put in place to link the tour to leisure tourism Keith Wakefield, Leeds City Council opportunities. Cyclists are the only market

“

Yorkshire’s

ers its the rid a w a in ra elling ter

leader, said the route would ensure a “lasting legacy” for the Tour de France.

Dr Morpeth says: “There is a slight worry that this opportunity won’t be fully grasped. The people in charge may become complacent with the thought that Yorkshire’s popularity is increasing without producing the goods to hold onto audiences. Everything has been organised with great sincerity but I’m not sure if it’s enough.”

Mark Goldstone, Head of Business Representation & Policy Leeds, Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, says: “The eyes of the world will be on Yorkshire during the Tour. There are numerous events outlining what businesses can do to get involved so people should watch out for these. It’s about being creative and grabbing the opportunity when you can.

“This is the perfect platform to show off what we have here in Yorkshire and possibly build partnerships with the global businesses watching us this summer.”

Sport & Leisure

Image courtesy of Roger Lighterness

OLYMPICS SPARK SPORT BID WARS Ryan Parrish

Sport & leisure

“Because we won the Olympics, other people started to bid for other events because they could see the value of the Commonwealth games, the World Championships that are coming to London in 2017 and you’re getting the Tour de France here (Leeds) next year,” he said.

“The argument goes that this is the best period that this country has ever had for sport,” said Cram.

“So people, authorities, developing agencies and the rest start seeing the value of perhaps using things like events to help draw in funding to enable those things to happen that then have a benefit in the wider communities, so that’s kind of where sport has got to.

“So lottery funding came around in 1997.

That then gave us two opportunities really, one was to provide a resource, partly to increase participation but it soon became clear there wasn’t enough to really impact that.

OLYMPIC MEDALLIST Steve Cram MBE believes that the legacy of London 2012 has aided Leeds to secure the hosting of events such as the Tour de France and “We are all in the middle of a little period that I’m not sure that I would have the Rugby World Cup. envisaged. There’s the Commonwealth The visit of the Rugby League World Cup games this year, we’ve got the Rugby in 2013, the Tour de France Grand Depart World Cup coming and the Ryder Cup. It’s this decade of sport that we talked this year and the Rugby World Cup in 2015 is set to bring a combined estimate of about a few years ago and we’re kind of in the middle of it all.” over £100m to the city’s economy.

Cram, a former World Champion athlete and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics silver medal winner, is the current Chairman of the English Institute of Sport as well as commentating for the BBC on their athletics coverage.

Cram also thinks that the UK is currently enjoying a golden age for sport following the success of 2012’s Olympics, including gold medals for Yorkshire athletes Jessica Ennis-Hill and Nicola Adams.

“The governing bodies set up a planned programme to win. Wind the clock back to 1996 - we were 36th in the medals table with one gold medal in rowing.

“One of the things that was decided was to target becoming successful again in order to try and create the role models to get a bit of a bandwagon going that might mean that people would come to sport a bit more readily – local authorities, governments – and then you can attract funding and you can do more.

“Funding for London meant that despite the fact that we went through the deepest recession that we’ve had in the country in living memory, sport was on the agenda.”

The Grand Depart of the Tour de France will take place on July 5 from outside However, he admits that this was not Leeds Town Hall and will be the biggest always the case, pointing towards the event the city has ever hosted, with near to Speaking at Leeds Metropolitan arrival of lottery funding as a contributing one million spectators expected to attend University, the 53-year-old explained factor to the success of Team GB’s athletes over the course of the weekend. how a successful bid for last summer’s showpiece helped to trigger the capture of in the summer of 2012. other high-profile events in the country.

Image courtesy of Rob Patrick

Image courtesy of Leeds Metropolitan University

Former athlete Steve Cram

Page 28 | January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

Olympic park: The home to the 2012 London games

Development

HILTON CHECKS IN

LEEDS’ NEXT HOTEL DEVELOPMENT SET TO OPEN IN 2016

Daisy Castle Development Leeds’ development sector is on the up after suffering from the recent recession, as a construction company announce plans for new a hotel in the city centre.

GB group have been given the go-ahead for a new Hilton Hotel to be built in the city centre next to Leeds Metropolitan University. The project is expected to cost £32million, with £21million to be spent on the hotel itself and the other £11million on surrounding areas. It will have 14 storeys, 206 bedrooms and a rooftop bar overlooking the whole of Leeds.

The hotel is situated only 300m away from the new First Direct Arena, which is set to drive most tourism into the hotel.

Brandon Riley, director of hotels at GB group, says that he expects this build to boost the economy by creating 100 long term jobs and attracting new tourists to the city. “The new Hilton Leeds Arena Hotel will provide a fantastic boost to the visitor economy in addition to driving regeneration and job creation.”

The finished hotel is expected to be completed in 2016 and with the existing Hilton in the city centre currently under refurbishment, Leeds’ hotel scene looks to be very dominant in the next few years.

Page 29| January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

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However, members of the public have a different, negative view on the hotel. John Hack, a builder from Leeds, also believes the hotel will benefit the city financially but thinks Leeds doesn’t need any more hotels and they are taking up vital space. “It’s a good move for the city but I think they’re taking over a bit, we have enough hotels in Leeds. It’s taking up a lot of space and isn’t practical for me as a driver, this space used to be a car park and when the Hilton’s built I’m told there won’t be any space to park”.

Textiles

LEEDS DESIGNERS SKY-HIGH SUCCESS “My designs are unique, they are produced in small quantities to a very high, professional standard, and are made by my own fair hands.”

After graduating from Leeds College of Art, Mandy worked in the retail and fashion industry as a fashion merchandiser, before landing the role of brand manager for Australian fashion accessories company, Mimco, managing their new boutique in the historic Victoria Quarter in Leeds.

Helen Clarke

Textiles

connections in New York and I plan to take the trips this January and next June and hopefully stay out in New York to complete work experience and to showcase my designs.”

Mandy prides her collection on “quality not quantity”, pouring all her efforts into creating one-off, bespoke designs in the comfort of her own home. “I am very much influenced by price and what my suppliers can get their hands on. Good

Her designs are already stocked in independent retailers around Yorkshire, such as sitting pretty boutique based in Huddersfield. She also provides a bespoke dress design service, and plans to further these ventures in New York, targeting fashion week. “I will be using the trips to make connections with small boutique owners as well as larger retailers, I am already in talks with a few businesses who I intend to meet up with.”

‘‘I am very and what my

AN UP - AND - COMING Leeds based designer hopes to take the fashion world by storm after winning tickets to New York to develop her clothing label.

Always knowing she wanted to set up her own fashion line, Mandy Hudson, a 26 year old recruitment consultant from Leeds finally bit the bullet and launched label, ‘Mabel’ last July. “I was always interested in fashion and I sewed from a young age”, she says: “My mother worked in the Leeds manufacturing industry when she was a young woman, and she always had her sewing machine out when I was growing up.”

Since the birth of Mabel, Mandy’s designs have enabled her to experience one off opportunities and start up her own business ventures. One of her more notable achievements was recently winning tickets to New York through a scheme called ‘young Briton’s’, a fund offering free flights every year to assist up and coming talent to pursue their dreams. She says: “I applied for the flights to help make

their hands on.

Mandy Hudson’s designs

’’ fabric is becoming increasingly harder to source especially if you are looking for more than the drab run of the mill fabrics.”

Mabel’s spring/summer collection is feminine with a distinctive vintage twist, lending a sense of nostalgia. “This collection will see sculptured draped silk dresses, deconstructed tailoring and reference to Victoriana with cocktail bustiers and layered peplums.”

Keen to maintain that personal stamp on her designs, Mandy adds her own touch of creativity by designing and crafting each item herself.

Page 30 | January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview

The young designer has high ambitions for the future of her fashion line, and is keen to get the ball rolling by showcasing her collection to industry professionals in the Big Apple. “New York is home to some of my favourite designers, I will be applying to do a placement with one of them to learn more about the industry and to gain some business contacts. Looking into the future I would love to stock more retailers and start planning future projects.” Mandy showcased her spring/summer collection at the Leeds fashion show last October, which was watched by many Leeds Industry high-flyers.

Public sector

PUBLIC SECTOR PENSIONS SLASHED

of public service pension schemes carried out in 2010 by Lord Hutton.

These recommendations have been used as a basis for new negotiations and rulings made with Public Sector Trade Unions and Public Sector workings since that review. These reforms will be implemented in two phases, with the first stage being scheme member contributions increasing from April 2012, and secondly a move to a new pension scheme in 2015, including a new career average scheme for the majority of Public Sector workers.

As the FBU strikes continue, it is left to private contractors and volunteers to pick up the slack, along with volunteers, meaning that not only is the strike costing the Government thousands of pounds, but it also means that potentially, unqualified civilians could be thrown into life–threatening situations, which would be incredibly unsafe. NHS workers have also been heavily involved in the strikes, leading the public to wonder what will happen to Emergency Services.

Emergency services were still available, however the NHS encouraged people to only phone 999 if there was a real emergency.

RECENTLY THERE has been a flurry of activity from many different public sector organisations including Fire Services, Teachers, Civil servants, NHS and Local Government workers, over pension cuts in England and Wales. According to the BBC, ‘Four million public sector workers will see a dramatic reduction in the value of their pension schemes’.

The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) said that members will see a one-third cut in the value of their pensions, as a result of forthcoming changes. The PPI said the average pension’s value will reduce from 23% of a person’s salary to 15%, which has angered Public Sector authorities up and down the country and led to nationwide strikes.

Fire services in particular have been up in arms over the proposed cuts and plans to raise retirement age of firefighters to 60, with the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) stating ‘Firefighters simply cannot be expected to fight fires and rescue families in their late

Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford was one hospital at which there was a picket line at theentrance, with 50s and into their 60s. We hope this strike over 300 employees striking, including nurses, surgeons, cleaners and catering will mean both governments [England staff. Although the strikes didaffect many and Wales] will be willing to discuss the full range of concerns that firefighters and of the hospitals up and down the country, access to major departments like A&E and the general public have expressed.’ The Maternity was still available. firefighters in question expressed a lack of happiness toward striking, however These strikes over the pension plans of expressed the opinion that the strikes many Public Sector workers are causing are the only option until an agreement incredible disruptions, but hopefully plans regarding pensions, contributions and and reforms put into place by the Civil retirement age is made.

Service should content unions into peace In 2011, Public Sector Workers in Leeds before too long. joined a nationwide walkout, which gained the blessing of Labour leader of Leeds City Council Keith Wakefield, who spoke on the picket lines outside the Civic Hall, saying ‘I think they [workers] have a right to show their grievances’.

George Osbourne responded by damning the strikes, stating ‘It [the strike] is only Public Sector going to make our economy weaker and potentially cost jobs’.According to the Civil Service, The Government has accepted recommendations for pension reforms following an independent review

Guy Wynn Davies

January 2014 | LeedsBusinessReview | Page 31

Business

LEEDS BUSINESS ROUNDUP

OUTSIDE OF London, Leeds is the largest city region in the UK employing 1.3 million people.

By Jennifer Gibbon

With such easy access via air, rail and road, the city is ideal for businesses looking to build professional relations across the country and further afield. “Leeds is one of the most cost-effective bases for business in Europe,” said business mentor Frances Parkinson.

The county of Yorkshire also boasts nine universities providing businesses with a rich source of knowledge and expertise. By collaborating with the many academics and experts from the leading universities in the country, businesses are able to enhance their networks, connections and create a strong brand.

Jeremy Clegg, from the Centre for International Business at the University of Leeds said; “Leeds has a thriving entrepreneurial community and business network. The city is great for learning from one another, and developing new corporate relationships.” It is no surprise 100,000 companies have made the Leeds city region the place to base their business.

AttributionNoncommercialNo Derivative Works Some rights reserved by Phill Mellor.