Inclusive Growth event - October 2025
Thank you to everyone who joined us at our Economic Vision launch event on Thursday 23rd October at the Royal Armouries Museum. Around 150 people attended an event filled with optimism about Leeds' achievements, the decade ahead and how the fantastic partnerships in the city will help us on this journey.
In his opening remarks, Cllr Jonathan Pryor, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy, Transport and Sustainable Development at Leeds City Council emphasised that cities are at the heart of the government's growth mission. This was underlined in the keynote speech by Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities, who presented data and insights to show Leeds' history of strong productivity growth. Cities must maximise the place-based levers they have to create urban environments which capture growth, which our Economic Vision brings a focus on.
Angela Barnicle, Director of City Development at Leeds City Council reminded us that inclusive growth runs through everything we do, from housing delivery to transport investment. Throughout the event, it was repeated that growth is necessary for securing and expanding opportunities for people, improving jobs and increasing access to services.
Two panel sessions with representatives from across the business ecosystem in Leeds helped to bring the Vision to life, with the first panel focusing on driving growth and innovation in our major sectors, and the second panel about the role of place and partnerships in delivering the Vision. Across both conversations, it became clear that what sets Leeds apart is the richness of our ecosystem, and how organisations put competition aside to collaborate with each other to make Leeds a better place to live and work.
The Economic Vision enables us to articulate what we are good at, so we can double down on our strengths and shout more loudly about the great things going on here so people from outside of Leeds want to invest and work with us.
The slides for the event can be accessed here.