Hotbed of talent is supporting Bank of England's expansion in Leeds, Turner & Townsend roundtable is told

The Bank of England’s expansion in Yorkshire is being supported by a hotbed of digital talent, a major business event was told.

The Bank has committed to have at least 500 staff based in Leeds by 2027, which equates to around one in 10 of its entire workforce.

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Paul Mount, Deputy Agent at the Bank of England, told a roundtable hosted by Turner & Townsend and The Yorkshire Post that the Bank will need “a lot of highly technical people” who understand data and IT.

He added: “There is a pool of talent in Leeds. One of my contacts in IT said, ‘Leeds is a hotbed for digital talent.’ It was seen as an attractive place to live, so as well as being able to recruit in Leeds, we might see some of our London staff choosing to move to Leeds". "You want to be able to create teams at scale. We saw connectivity to London as important, as we will have some split-site teams. Stakeholders in Leeds were very welcoming. We found the door was very much open."

Paul Mount of the Bank of England. (Photo by Allan McKenzie/AMGP.co.uk)Paul Mount of the Bank of England. (Photo by Allan McKenzie/AMGP.co.uk)
Paul Mount of the Bank of England. (Photo by Allan McKenzie/AMGP.co.uk)

Mr Mount added: “Many Yorkshire businesses say that we need improvement to the transport from people's commuting areas to get into work more quickly; that's what's causing them a headache; not that they can't get to London quickly. "Having gone through the pandemic when we had a shift to hybrid working, which most firms have embraced, but I would say more of them are wanting to move the dial back a bit. "That is not to say they don't want hybrid working or don't recognise the benefit of staff having more flexibility but they want people to be more present in offices. They want young people to be able to learn from more experienced people and they want to be able to build their cultures, which many feel is dependent on being together in person. "A lot of firms are upgrading their offices; they want them to be higher quality, as a way of attracting staff, and more environmentally sustainable.”

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Coun Anne Handley, the leader of East Riding Council, stressed that Yorkshire could be very powerful as a collective force. She said Hull, which by tonnage is the largest port in the country, acted as a gateway to Europe and the energy estuary.

She added: “If we can show we can get carbon capture right, the impact for Yorkshire will be huge. I live just outside Goole and we have the largest train manufacturer in Europe. But the train station in the centre of Goole doesn't have a direct service to Leeds. There are four parts to Yorkshire, not just one. I truly believe that each part brings something different to the table.”

"Leeds has a focus on financial services, South Yorkshire has advanced manufacturing, North Yorkshire is the bread basket and we in the East Riding have the port and estuary. Yorkshire is a huge powerhouse in our own right.”

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Cllr Anne Handley of East Riding Council with Turner & Townsend's Clare Wood. (Photo by Allan McKenzie/AMGP.co.uk)Cllr Anne Handley of East Riding Council with Turner & Townsend's Clare Wood. (Photo by Allan McKenzie/AMGP.co.uk)
Cllr Anne Handley of East Riding Council with Turner & Townsend's Clare Wood. (Photo by Allan McKenzie/AMGP.co.uk)

Clare Wood, Yorkshire Northeast Regional Director (Infrastructure) at Turner & Townsend, said there was a huge synergy between the public and private sector with regards to infrastructure projects.

She added: "There is a lot we can do to collaborate to reach our common goals. I know we've been talking about retaining talent, but there's also a skills element to this.

"If you look at what we're going to be building across Yorkshire over the next few years, we're going to need to start apprenticeship programmes now and ensure we keep graduates here who are coming out of our universities.

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"There is huge opportunity in this region to create a base for talented individuals, who are highly skilled in rail engineering and associated roles.

Michael Grace of Turner & Townsend. (Photo by Allan McKenzie/AMGP.co.uk)Michael Grace of Turner & Townsend. (Photo by Allan McKenzie/AMGP.co.uk)
Michael Grace of Turner & Townsend. (Photo by Allan McKenzie/AMGP.co.uk)

"It's not just about attracting people from elsewhere, we need to home grow. We need to both retain people and grow the talent base to make it more attractive.

"My team at Turner & Townsend are very excited by the infrastructure projects in the region. I have a list of people who want to work on major projects in this region."

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Mick Grace, director and strategic lead at Turner & Townsend’s Leeds office, said there had to be a business case for any successful regeneration scheme .

"Connecting Leeds and Bradford together will create a phenomenal amount of productivity improvements.

"How do these two cities work together to ensure value is added for both cities?

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"As a global business we employ more than 600 people in Yorkshire and they want to commute well and live well. There are many great things that our county has got to offer."

He said Turner & Townsend aimed to employ 1,000 people in Yorkshire in five years time.

Turner & Townsend is the strategic delivery partner for Kirklees Council's Cultural Heart project, which will regenerate Huddersfield town centre, creating jobs and attracting thousands of visitors.

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Under a £30m framework, Turner & Townsend has also been appointed as Programme Development Partner (PDP) to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) Mass Transit Portfolio, which aims to connect West Yorkshire’s cities, towns and district centres, serving areas of new housing development and employment growth, and providing links to inter-city rail services

However Mr Grace said that the devolved powers enjoyed by Scotland have helped the Scottish economy outperform Yorkshire in some respects.

This is the final article about the roundtable, which was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Leeds, and chaired by Greg Wright, deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post.

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