Things are looking up for Leeds with host of big schemes on the horizon: Chris Black

But as business leaders we must not give into the despondency. To do so would be to talk our economy down.

Times are tough, of course they are. But there is also much to celebrate and be grateful for in our region and its wonderful business community.

Take rail for instance. Yes, the decision on HS2 was incredibly frustrating. So much of our long-term planning for Leeds City Centre and inward investment decisions had been based on the promise of high-speed rail and, more importantly, the improved capacity the project would bring to the region.

But take a look at the work currently going on with Leeds’s railway station.

Network Rail is investing millions of pounds into revamping the station. The whole area that surrounds it will be completely transformed and we will reap numerous benefits from it happening, not least of which due to the newly-finished City Square.

Of course, these revamps cause disruption. It is impossible to conceive of a situation in which such a large-scale development programme would be completed with no inconvenience to the public.

The British Library is most readily associated with its site in London. But what is not common knowledge is that 70 per cent of its collection is here in Yorkshire near Boston Spa, where millions of texts and objects are stored.

And there are plans to enhance this with Leeds’s iconic Temple Works building earmarked to become another northern outpost which could be open as early as 2028. This would give a spectacular new lease of life for the Egyptian-style building which dates back to 1836.

Take the fact that UKREIIF, the biggest investment forum in the country, is staying in Leeds for the foreseeable future, with 12,000 people due in the city this coming May.

And then there is the wonderful plans to create an Innovation Arc in Leeds.

Recently boosted by news that the city will be home to one of the Government’s Investment Zones, the arc will draw together many of the city’s key institutions including Leeds General Infirmary, the University of Leeds and the South Bank.

The investment in digital and healthtech will accelerate plans for the Leeds Innovation Arc, kickstarting the development of the Innovation Village on the Leeds General Infirmary site with the refurbishment of the Old Medical School to create a healthtech innovation hub.

Co-locating entrepreneurs, businesses, clinicians and academics in this way will help deliver the first phase of development of the 12.5 acre site which will deliver 4,000 new jobs and up to £13bn economic boost for the region.

All of this will feed into Leeds’s growing reputation as a magnet for tech jobs and investment.

The city’s tech sector is valued at more than £1bn and the likes of Flutter, Crisp and Open Innovations to name just a few are household names in the international business community.

It is therefore not easy to understand why Leeds is home to the second largest number of start-ups outside of London.

Let us keep our focus on what is great about the city region and all we have to be proud of. This will make the task of solving the areas that challenge us all the easier to tackle.

Chris Black is President of Leeds Chamber of Commerce and Managing Director of manufacturer Sound Leisure