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Leeds - a growing fintech hub

Leeds City Region's offer

Strong financial sector including established financial services organisations - increasingly receptive to FinTech and digital transformation.
Over 100 fintech firms operate in the city.
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 Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) was launched at University of Leeds' Nexus facility.

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 insurtech, and is home to the UK's first fintech accelerator outside of London as well as Lloyds Banking Group’s Digital Transformation Lab. The Bank of England and the FCA have established operations in the city. Home to 80,000 financial and professional services jobs, Leeds City Region is a hub of expertise; nearly two-thirds of jobs in the sector are highly skilled and the city region exports £5.4bn in financial and professional services.

A major and established centre for legal services – over 1,500 legal companies are based in the Leeds City Region, including 28 of the UK’s top 100 law firms, employing over 16,000 people and generating over £3bn in revenue.

Foreign direct investment of £64m in financial and professional services brought over 500 new jobs to Leeds between 2021 and 2025.

Whitecap Consulting

Leeds City Region Fintech Report 2023

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.

Fintech specialisms include green finance, lending, payments, regtech and wealthtech. The Leeds City Region is home to more than 100 fintech firms including Iwoca, LHV Bank, PEXA and Recognise Bank.

The region is also home to regulatory agencies, research centres, networks and events, such as the Bank of England, Financial Conduct Authority, the UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment, Leeds Digital Festival, the largest tech festival in the UK outside of London and FinTech North.

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

Leeds City Region Legal Tech Innovation

Leeds City Region is ideally positioned to support the growth of the Legal Tech sector. 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.

Download the legal tech report

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BJSS: Shaping FinTech innovation for over 25 years

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