Why South Bank could hold the key to Leeds' digital expansion

That was one of the main messages to emerge from the launch of property consultancy Bilfinger GVA’s new report, Northern Powerhouse: Realising Its Full Potential.

The report cites the opportunities offered for digital development in go-ahead areas like the South Bank as a way in which the wider Leeds city region can make the most of the push to create an economic Northern Powerhouse. Held at Leeds’s Aspire venue, the launch event featured a panel of speakers that included Leeds City Council chief executive Tom Riordan and Roger Marsh, chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership.

They agreed that the city region should capitalise on its existing position as a centre of digital excellence through the regeneration of “key strategic property sites”.

But they also warned that a focus on digital should not come at the expense of longer-standing Leeds success stories such as financial and professional services.

Mr Marsh said: “The North of England has a unique opportunity to create an economy that is a third bigger than it is today by 2050, generating over a million more jobs across our key sectors.

“Within the digital sector, Leeds city region has the opportunity to become globally recognised in areas such as data storage and cyber security, while in the health sector there are tremendous growth opportunities for our city region, particularly in the fields of medical devices, technology and informatics.”

The digital sector currently supports 70,000 jobs across the Leeds city region, which also includes places such as Wakefield and Kirklees. That total is predicted to rise by 15 per cent over the next five years, creating 10,000 new jobs – around half of which are likely to be in Leeds itself.

The sector’s annual value to the city region economy, meanwhile, is set to increase from £1.5bn to £2bn by 2021.

About 50 per cent of that projected £2bn is expected to be generated in Leeds each year.

Challenging the 100-strong audience at Aspire to seize the chances offered by the Northern Powerhouse project, Mr Riordan said: “If we don’t all see the opportunity now we’ll never see the opportunity.

“We have fantastic growth stories going on so let’s stop worrying what others are doing and work to maximise the advantages.”

Leeds’s South Bank area stretches from Holbeck urban village to Leeds Dock and is being promoted as offering prime development opportunities.

Existing projects for the area include Tower Works, the transformation of a former factory into an £80m mix of office, leisure and residential space.

World-famous clothing brand Burberry is also setting up a major new manufacturing and weaving factory on the South Bank that will employ more than 1,000 people.

Other high-profile South Bank regeneration schemes include the recently-completed construction of Leeds City Station’s £17m southern entrance and the opening of the Tetley arts space.