Leeds is one of the fastest growing cities in the UK and makes a significant contribution to the region's GDP. Covering approximately 217 square miles with around 65 per cent green belt land, the Leeds Metropolitan District is home to a population of around 700,000. As the regional capitol of Yorkshire and Humber, Leeds is the major provider of employment accounting for almost half the 936,000 total. Bradford lies 11 miles to the west of Leeds and is considerably smaller, with a population of roughly 468,000. The Bradford District covers an area of 143 square miles, much of which is open space.

As with many other regions, the service sector is playing an increasingly important roll. At 52.6 per cent it is by far the greatest source of employment followed by the construction and distribution sector at 27.3 per cent.

As the third largest financial and business services centre after London and Birmingham, Leeds' financial sector is the largest employer and the city is considered the financial capital of the North. Some of the UK's leading names in banking and insurance services are based in the city, including First Direct, GE Capital and Alliance and Leicester. The financial and business services sectors together generate in the region of one-third of the city's £5.8 billion GDP. The service industries as a whole account for over half of total employment, the largest employers being Leeds City Council and Leeds Healthcare. In the private sector ASDA, Yorkshire Bank, Barclays, Natwest, Midland, TSB Lloyds, British Gas and British Telecom are the largest employers.

Again like many other regions, the changing world economy has significantly shifted the emphasis from manufacturing to knowledge based activities. The region's reputation for high standards in innovation, skills and production is now put to the test in the increasingly competitive ICT sector. One example of the region's determination to succeed in this arena is Bmedia, an organisation that has it origins in the New Media Steering Group, set up by Bradford Council in 2001 to promote the establishment and future growth of new media-related industries in the Bradford District. Counting a wide variety of local ICT companies in its membership, it aims to create and sustain the best possible environment for new media business to thrive in the area by addressing issues such as IT infrastructure and education.

Leeds is also embracing ICT and the new online economy evidenced by major e-service providers such as Firstnet choosing the city as a base of operations. March 2001 saw the launch of the Leeds e-HQ initiative, a partnership of public and private sector organisations co-operating to create new e-business opportunities in the city. The initiative, led by the Leeds Development Agency (LDA) brings together telecommunications and media firms such as BT, Energis2, Freeserve and Planet OnLine with educational institutions such as Leeds College of Technology, Leeds Metropolitan University and the University of Leeds. By offering a range of support packages to established and start-up e-business firms it aims to capitalise on the existing profile of Leeds in terms of UK Internet traffic, and to use this as gateway for access to European markets. By commissioning research projects to identify and deal with skills gaps in the sector, and assessing the feasibility of establishing a distinct 'Internet Quarter', the initiative is seeking to promote Leeds as an e-business location to the outside world as well as developing and maintaining the right environment for home grown e-business. According to figures issued by the Office for National Statistics, the City's media, communications and advertising sector has seen growth of more than 20 per cent in the last two years.

The region benefits from an advanced telecommunications infrastructure. Over 90 per cent of BT exchanges in Leeds support broadband providing high speed internet access to both homes and business. Equipped with the latest telecommunications infrastructure, Thorpe Park Leeds, one of the largest business parks in Europe, offers residents access to high level bandwidth and an advanced dual optical fibre network.

Alongside the e-commerce, financial and services industries Leeds also remains one of the country's primary manufacturing centres, with fifty percent of the UK's manufacturing base within a two hour drive of the city. The largest manufacturing sectors are engineering, food and drink, printing and publishing and chemicals. Engineering is the largest of these with around 950 companies employing in the region of 21,000 people. Despite suffering many redundancies in the manufacturing sectors due to a variety of global influences, according to Cambridge Econometrics, job growth in general in both Leeds and Bradford is set to continue over the next decade. Confidence in the city's strength as a centre for manufacturing excellence has been bolstered recently by significant expansions by companies such as Schneider Electric, Dana Spicer Europe Ltd, Scientific Games International, John Blackburn, VAW Motorcast, Elida Faberge and Arla Foods. According to Leeds City Council, during 1990s investment by manufacturing companies exceeded £300m.

Over the past decade, losses in manufacturing have been off set by significant gains in the public administration, finance and banking and construction sectors. Bradford still has a strong manufacturing industry, wool and textiles playing an important part in the local economy.

The recent Foot and Mouth epidemic had a major impact on the West Yorkshire region with the slump in farming and in tourism affecting many local businesses. Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency, has made a total investment in rural recovery from Foot and Mouth in the region of £11.5 million. In July 2002 it announced a further £1 million in European Funding to supply grants to assist local businesses suffering from the after affects of the disease. Today, indications from the region's tourist industry show that visitor numbers are increasing and this is reflected in the increase in employment within this sector.

Being centrally located, the region has excellent rail and motorway links with the rest of the UK. However, economic improvements have had their impact on the internal infrastructure. The recent South and West Yorkshire Multi Modal Study (SWYMMS) recommends a number of changes to regional infrastructure, which reflect that Yorkshire and Humber as a region has the fastest traffic growth coupled with the lowest investment in transport. The region's economic growth requires significant transport infrastructure improvements, and it is hoped that SWYMMS' proposed short-term highway improvements and longer-term motorway improvements will address the region's transport priorities, helping to alleviate congestion on some of the busiest roads in the area.

The West Yorkshire region has gained much from its location midway between London and central Scotland. Companies resident here benefit in particular from its strategic access to the motorway network. Leeds is situated at the crossroads of the M1 and M62 and the road connections to Scotland and the North East have been improved by a link road connecting the M1 and the A1. The M606, Bradford's own motorway, comes within 1.5 miles of the City centre and links with the M6 and the M1 via the M62.

Leeds occupies a central position along the Trans Pennine corridor, which stretches between the ports of Liverpool and Hull. It is around 320 km north of London, and 190 km north-east of Birmingham. Other major metropolitan concentrations such as Greater Manchester and Sheffield are within easy reach. Rail services between London's Kings Cross and Leeds run once every thirty five minutes during peak hours, the journey taking just under two hours thirty minutes. Journeys between Bradford and King's Cross take approximately 3 hours.

Leeds/Bradford International Airport offers extensive internal flights to destinations including Gatwick and Heathrow, Edinburgh and Belfast City. The airport also offers regular international services to Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. The freight terminals at Stourton and Wakefield Europort also serve the region.

In terms of higher education the region is well served by a number of institutions, which enjoy world-wide acclaim for the quality of teaching and research undertaken. Leeds has two higher education colleges and eight colleges of further education. The two universities, Leeds Metropolitan University and the University of Leeds have a combined total of almost 50,000 students. According to figures issued by UCAS, the University of Leeds consistently receives more undergraduate applicants than any university in the U.K, in 2000-2001 there were 45,862 applications for 6,100 places.

Close links with local business and commerce are becoming an increasingly important element in the profile of UK universities. Leeds University Business School, which according to its MBA alumni is ranked among the world's top 100 business schools places a great deal of importance on such links. Directors and senior managers of leading organisations are invited to advise the school and commercial bodies contribute to the MBA programme by providing placements and projects for MBA candidates. Companies such as Barclays Bank, British Aerospace, British Telecom, Eurotunnel, and Wang Global are numbered among some of the high profile participants. The reciprocal relationship has also seen the faculty act as consultant to some 80 companies and over the past five years Income from research contracts amounts to over £2.8m.

In a similar approach, The University of Leeds offers a brokerage service known as "City and Regional Initiative on Student Projects" (CRISP). The service helps companies to gain access to the talents offered by their students and both undergraduates and postgraduates from many disciplines can undertake course-related projects in the workplace. Such projects are free of charge and are ideal for companies that are struggling with a lack of funds or staff expertise.

The University of Bradford is smaller with around 6,300 undergraduates and 800 full-time postgraduates. Bradford university has also made a commitment to help local business and the community wherever possible and offers a Company Support Programme giving access to various fields of expertise. Certain areas of the project are part financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The University of Bradford School of Management is known for its development of a dedicated MBA for Rolls-Royce in 1989. Since then corporate partnerships have multiplied and this achievement was followed by winning a contract to provide the BBC with an Executive MBA and Diploma programme.

Comparative property prices in the West Yorkshire region are very reasonable and there are a number of both residential and business property developments underway at present. Rapid growth in the financial and business services sector has driven private sector investment in major office developments in Leeds with many major companies in the sector taking up residence in purpose built projects. According to Leeds City Council, over the past six years over two-million sq. ft. of new office space has been created in Leeds City Centre and an additional three million sq. ft. is planned.

Alongside new build projects, there has been significant investment in schemes to preserve the city's Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian buildings. Regeneration has transformed the waterfront area into an important centre for business with housing and leisure facilities including, shopping and two prestigious hotels.

Between July and December 2001, according to the World Office Rents survey by Insignia Richard Ellis, headline office rents in Leeds remained stable at £22 per square foot whilst rents in Manchester (£24), Birmingham (£25) and Edinburgh (£29) continue to rise. Rental levels for commercial and industrial premises in Bradford are amongst the lowest of the main UK cities and the local council offers a "Land and Property Information Service" that maintains a database of available property in the district.

Sports and leisure amenities in Leeds have also undergone enhancement in recent years. This includes the opening of the £4m South Leeds Stadium and the David Lloyd Tennis Centre. Both participant and spectator will find the sporting facilities in the West Yorkshire region excellent, with cricket at Headingley, football at Elland Road, horse racing at Weatherby and a strong tradition of rugby league throughout the area.

The region is also blessed by some of the most outstanding areas of natural beauty, which provide the backdrop for a rich artistic and literary tradition that today includes international opera and theatre.