Summer 2026 Good News Round-Up

New flagship careers fair coming to Leeds

As part of a refreshed approach to bringing together opportunities from multiple sectors, the 'Careers in Leeds' fair will take place this November at Leeds first direct bank arena. The fair is open to anyone considering their next move and will feature dedicated zones including Construction, Manufacturing and Engineering, Health and Social Care and more.

UKREiiF 2026 announcements

Leeds hosted another successful UKREiiF in May (UK Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum), during which there were a number of significant announcements. This included a new Mayoral Development Zone (MDZ) bringing together the council, West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), Homes England and central government to accelerate the delivery of up to 20,000 new homes in and around the South Bank.

A new Blueprint for Heritage

Also launched at UKREiiF was a new heritage framework for Leeds, positioning heritage as one of the city's most powerful tools for connection, participation and shared identity. The framework identifies priorities for future action and investment - such as involving children and young people in developing heritage activity.

City centre vacancy rate

The latest city centre vacancy rate has been recorded as 10.75%, which is better than the pre-covid rate of 12% recorded in February 2020. This has mainly been driven by a significant drop in the number of vacant units within arcades.

Conferencing success

In 2025, Leeds hosted over 33,000 meetings and conferences, welcomed 1.8m delegates and generated over £352m of direct income for the city. This is according to a recent report from the UK Conference and Meetings Survey, and demonstrates Leeds' continued strength as a leading conference destination.

Supporting people to stay in work

Through funding from the regional Healthy Working Lives trailblazer, which is part of the national Get Britain Working programme, Leeds City Council's Employment & Skills Team has been providing grants to businesses to help employees stay and thrive in work. The incentive programme has recently enabled four businesses to support their teams through measures such as investing in training or specialist equipment.