The Perspective Economics research uses new data insights to compare Leeds with similar UK and international cities and ranks it consistently as a top location in this field.
Analysis of this research shows that compared to other similar UK cities*, Leeds:
The report, Pursuing Excellence, also identifies strong and well-coordinated leadership, strategic partnerships, and investment in state-of-the-art infrastructure as creating unique opportunities for health innovation to thrive.
It finds that Leeds is home to 144 healthtech companies with a combined £1.6bn annual turnover, employing 11,400 people, and confirms the city’s renowned strengths in medtech, digital health, software development, data analytics, and AI. It also shows that almost one-third of all case studies submitted by Leeds-based universities to the UK’s Research Excellence Framework are health-related.
“This report, along with news of West Yorkshire being chosen as the country’s third Investment Zone, continues to reaffirm and provide a real boost to our ambitions to deliver innovation that creates a healthier, greener, and inclusive future for Leeds and across the globe.
Leeds, a major hub for the NHS, continues to shine a spotlight and build on its international reputation for health research and innovation, with work accelerating around our £1.5 billion Innovation Arc, co-locating entrepreneurs, businesses, and clinicians to deliver world-class innovation through collaboration.”
Tom Riordan, Chief Executive, Leeds City Council
The report was commissioned by Leeds Academic Health Partnership, one of the biggest partnerships of its kind in the UK and the only one in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Professor Phil Wood, Chief Executive Officer, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, and Chair-elect of Leeds Academic Health Partnership said, “We welcome this new evidence which confirms some of what we already know – such as Leeds being at the forefront of developments in digital pathology, diagnostics, and artificial intelligence to transform care. And while it highlights our sector’s strengths, it also points to opportunities where we can further raise the bar.”
He continued, “As a partnership, we are working hard to combine our respective strengths more closely to help solve some of today’s hardest health challenges, for our city and beyond. Our new state-of-the-art hospitals at Leeds General Infirmary, and new Innovation Village within the City’s Innovation Arc, are at the heart of some of this work and have been boosted recently with the Government’s announcement that our region is to be a £160 million Investment Zone for health and life sciences. So, we are not only celebrating our existing achievements through this report, but recognising the incredibly strong foundations on which we can further build our position as a global leader.”
Professor Nick Plant, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation, University of Leeds, said: “These findings emphasise our city’s leading position for accelerating the development and adoption of new health technologies and clearly show Leeds’ outstanding track record in securing funding for interdisciplinary and collaborative health and care research and delivering impactful outcomes from this. The report also highlights the city’s fantastic pipeline of skills and talent, and the opportunities to support a more sustainable health and care workforce.”
“Working in collaboration with our partners, addressing health and economic inequalities is at the forefront of our research. To achieve our ambition to improve health outcomes and quality of life for individuals and societies, our focus remains on the needs of our local community, especially those facing the greatest inequalities. As we embrace those challenges together, we are strengthening our standing as an international exemplar for health innovation.”
The report also identifies high-potential opportunities for growing Leeds’ national and international influence and impact on health innovation. These include:
Read and download the full report here.
*Benchmarked UK cities: Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow, and Newcastle Upon Tyne.
Benchmarked international cities: Boston, Dublin, Zurich, Basel, Eindhoven, Oulu, Mainz and Bergen.