The Northern Powerhouse Minister, James Wharton today (6 February 2016) challenged global financial services companies to tap in to the wealth of talent the region has to offer.

He was speaking after attending an event in Leeds promoted by UK Trade & Investment, which has showcased the Yorkshire region as a Financial Centre of Excellence. The minister will attend a similar event in Manchester later this month.

Despite London’s square mile being undisputed as Europe’s financial capital, Mr Wharton highlighted that most people employed by the sector in this country were based outside of the Capital.

The growing financial services industry in the Northern Powerhouse boasts more than 400,000 jobs.

In 2012 alone, such companies across the Leeds and Sheffield city regions contributed £14.06 billion to the UK economy.

Several key players in the sector are choosing to ‘near-shore’ their services, moving jobs both of out London and back to the UK from overseas. These include:

  • Bank of Merrill Lynch employs over 700 people at its office in Chester, its largest site outside of London in the whole of Europe, the Middle East and Africa
  • PwC has expanded in Leeds, and now employs over 700 people in the city
  • International specialist bank and asset manager Investec announced November 2015 that they will launch an investment banking operation in the North of England
  • Barclays announced just last month that it would be expanding its operations in Liverpool, creating 300 new jobs at its Liverpool call centre.