Attracting investment, jobs and skills
Leicester’s reputation for having a highly skilled and young workforce is continuing to grow with a variety of national and international businesses. It is a great location for new and established businesses alike.
As confirmed by the 2018 TechNation report, Leicester is ranked first in the UK for growth in tech start up companies. We have continued to establish our commitment with the local universities to encourage student businesses and new start-ups which has encouraged the retention of talent within the city.
Leicester's award winning inward investment service continues to grow, supporting the leverage of private sector finance into the city - this includes the investment of over £40m by IBM, Hastings Direct and Mattioli Woods securing a large number of permanent jobs and opportunities; together with other new office-based businesses in the city, such as PPL PRS and Octopus Energy. Through these successes, I am resolute that investment service areas will get the support needed to ensure growth for the city. Our dedicated website, investinleicester.co.uk, provides further information on the team's specialist expertise and available support for the city's investment opportunities and projects.
We also continue to deliver comprehensive programmes of support for growing businesses. Many of these are based within our portfolio of business workspaces, and we work closely with companies to help them find premises, attract talent and grow.
We are making good progress with Phase 2 of the Economic Action Plan, which was launched in December 2015, and this work continues to encourage and maximise investment into the city.
Since the Launch of the first Economic Action Plan in 2012:
- 2260 businesses have been supported
- More than 7,700 jobs have been created
- More than 320 businesses have received direct financial assistance
- Number of people unemployed has fallen from 21,000 to 8,700
- Leicester's gross weekly pay has risen from £402.50 to £438.40
- Leicester has increased in skill levels with 64,300 individuals having level 4 or above compared to 61,600 in 2012.
- Youth unemployment has reduced from 6.8% to 2.1% for those aged 16-24
- Over 1500 apprenticeships have been supported including 345 within the council itself.
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Watch our video
Watch me introduce our initial version of the plan on YouTube.