Graduates draw KPMG to city as accountants create 200 more jobs

The firm has completed a deal to take the remaining 28,500 sq ft in the Broad Gate building in Leeds city centre on a 10-year lease.

KPMG said it selected the city for the investment due to the availability of a skilled population, with the graduate and undergraduate talent pool from the city’s universities providing a specific pull.

The new jobs will be created through agency contracts and operations will begin in January next year once the fit-out has been completed.

KPMG said the move would enable it to assist clients with major transformation opportunities and challenges.

The first department to be based in Broad Gate will be a Customer Relationship Centre, which will help clients when they need to react to change in their business or sector.

Other departments to follow include a hi-tech client collaboration suite which will be developed during the spring as a way for KPMG to share technology insights and trial new developments with, and on behalf of, clients.

This suite is to be part of a national KPMG programme of investment in technology innovation centres in the UK, including its ‘start-up hub’ in London’s Tech City which opened last year.

Chris Hearld, KPMG’s Leeds office senior partner, said: “Our investment in this national operation underlines KPMG’s belief in and commitment to Leeds as an excellent base from which to do business.

“There are more than 800 people working in our existing Leeds office so we have every confidence that the city supplies top quality employees and the infrastructure that business needs, from transport to social.”

He added: “This investment builds on the customer relationship work that we have been successfully delivering from within our Leeds office on behalf of clients for the last couple of years, and reflects growth in this part of our business.”