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Leeds - the northern fintech hub

Leeds City region fintech highlights

  • Strong financial sector including more than 40 established financial services organisations - increasingly receptive to FinTech and digital transformation.
  • Strengths in retail banking, consumer and business lending, insurance and credit referencing.
  • Significant strength in financial technology consulting, with Leeds headquartered firms serving all the major UK banks and numerous other organisations outside the region.
  • The Centre for Financial Technology & Innovation was launched at University of Leeds in 2019.
  • Named as one of the top 20 fastest growing global fintech hubs to watch in 2020.

A hub of expertise

A Financial Centre of Excellence, Leeds is home to a substantial cluster of banking - with over 30 national and international banks,  accountancy - with 150 firms including the Big Four,  and a growing insurance sector. It is primed to develop as a leading location for fintech and insuretech, and is home to the UK's first fintech accelerator outside of London  as well as Lloyds Banking Group’s Digital Transformation Lab.  A hub of expertise, 63% of jobs in the financial services sector in Leeds are high skilled,  and the city exports £3.5bn in financial services. 

A major and established centre for legal services – over 1500 legal companies are based in the Leeds City Region, including 28 of the UK’s top 100 law firms, employing over 14,400 people and generating almost £1bn per year. 

Foreign direct investment of £77.75m in financial services brought 293 new financial services jobs to Leeds between 2014 and 2018. 

Leeds City Region Legal Tech Innovation 2020

The legal sector is at a point of major industry transformation. Leeds City Region is ideally positioned to be UK leaders in this transformation. The combination of the region’s sizeable legal sector, its multi-sector digital tech capability, and a large pool of experienced and graduate talent, are all key factors according to a new report published by Whitecap Consulting.

Download the legal tech report

Developing as a leading location for fintech 

The fintech sector in the Leeds City Region continues to benefit from having a large financial services sector and a strong presence of nationally successful technology consultancies, with more than 9 out of 10 people in fintech estimated to be working in established organisations.

The region has also continued to build its reputation as a thriving digital hub and has an increasingly high profile nationally and internationally.

Leeds City Region is home to the second highest concentration of scaleups (across all sectors) outside of the South East, and Leeds itself is also the highest-ranking city outside of London for scaleups. Clearly the region has strong credentials as a good place to grow an established business.

Leeds has more scaleups than any other Local Authority outside London.

Leeds City region fintech ecosystem report 2019 - 2020

The fintech sector in Leeds City Region has shown growth in several key areas over the last two years according to a new report published by regional strategy consulting firm Whitecap Consulting.

Download the fintech report

Partner story

BJSS: Shaping FinTech innovation for over 25 years

BJSS: Shaping FinTech innovation for over 25 years

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Equiniti: How the Leeds City Region became the home of Lendtech

Equiniti: How the Leeds City Region became the home of Lendtech

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PrinSIX Technologies: helping lenders gain a deep understanding of their customers

PrinSIX Technologies: helping lenders gain a deep understanding of their customers

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