The Yorkshire and Humber region is home to the largest concentration outside London of financial, legal and professional services.

This combined sector employs nearly 100,000 people in Leeds alone (24 per cent of the city's employment), together contributing more than £3 billion to the region's GDP. And this sector is forecast to enjoy further growth, and account for most of Leeds net employment growth.

• The Bank of England has a major presence in the city through the Leeds Cash Centre, which is responsible for bulk note handling for the whole of the North of England. The Bank's Agency for Yorkshire & The Humber, which reports to the Monetary Policy Committee on economic conditions in the region, is also based in Leeds.
• Leeds has over 30 national and international banks, many of whose northern or regional offices are established in the city. HSBC, the world's largest bank, chose to launch the UK's first ever telephone banking service, First Direct, in Yorkshire.
• There are 110 insurance companies, 200 accounting firms and 150 law firms based in Leeds, and Leeds is also home to 30 financial call centres and is the leading city in the UK for telephone-delivered banking and related financial services, with around 20,000 people employed in this activity.
• Many venture capital providers, including 3i, the country's largest, have offices in the region. Hungry for investment opportunities, they are seen to be experts on the regional economy in a way their London counterparts cannot match.
• Within Yorkshire and Humber you will find many leading accountancy firms and offices of all the majors, including most of the top 20 largest UK accounting practices.
• Over 30 national and international banks are represented in the Yorkshire and Humber region and many have their regional or northern centres in the region.
• First Direct and Halifax Direct have their headquarters in the city which is well served in both private and merchant banking sectors as well as the major retail banks.
• The Yorkshire and Humber region has developed rapidly into the most important UK centre for insurance outside London. All aspects of insurance are represented in-depth, including commercial and personal underwriting, claims handling, fraud investigation, loss adjusting and insurance broking.
• All the main national and many international firms are located in the region, many of them concentrating their North of England operations in the region.
• Yorkshire and Humber is very well served with life and pension offices and many established independent financial advisors, and is also a centre for direct sold insurance.
• It is the number of large corporate law firms and the depth of their service and expertise that makes Leeds the largest and strongest law centre outside London.
• The majority of the top law firms outside London are based in Leeds, and five of the Big Six Leeds law firms now have national and international operations.
• Stock broking is one of the other success stories in Leeds and the city is a major centre for handling share dealing, particularly for private investors.
• The number of stock broking firms has grown significantly and the provision of services has expanded rapidly to encompass everything from execution-only dealing through to corporate and institutional broking and investment management.
• A number of corporate brokers has set up in Leeds to service a growing demand from northern based companies who previously would have looked to London.
• The private client sector has also expanded rapidly offering dealing services and investment advice, and several national execution only operators are based locally.
• Leeds became a major centre for telephone-delivered banking, insurance and related financial services such as credit and outsourced management services.
• Many of the major operators such as First Direct, Direct Line, GE Capital & Finance, Alliance & Leicester, Barclays Mortgage, and Halifax Direct have chosen to locate in Leeds because of the excellent telecommunications support systems, the availability of high calibre staff and the importance of being in a major financial centre.
• There are over 35 call centres in the Leeds area; most of the larger ones involved in financial services.
• There are over 106 BPFS university courses at both Sheffield Hallam and Sheffield University ranging from Accountancy, Economics and Business to IT, Maths and Computing. Many of the local colleges and univerisites now offer tailored courses in conjunction with local businesses helping businesses to develop the expertise they need.