A new report from Whitecap Consulting shows the FinTech sector in the Leeds City Region has experienced huge growth over the last three years.
Leeds is currently home to more than 100 FinTech firms, and is contributing more than £700m per year to the regional economy, according to Whitecap’s research.
The report is published at a time when the financial sector in the region is thriving, buoyed by the decisions of the Financial Conduct Authority, UK Infrastructure Bank and Bank of England to establish bases in Leeds. More than 100 FinTech firms have now been identified in the Leeds City Region, the vast majority of which are startups and scaleups, a segment which has trebled in number over the last 3 years. Core strengths are visible in payments, lending, financial regulation, wealth management, and banking.
The region is already home to more than 60 established national and international financial services organisations, all of which are active in FinTech, including banks, lending firms and three of the UK’s largest building societies. Leeds is also the only city outside London to be home to all three of the UK’s major credit reference agencies.
Richard Fearon, chief executive at Leeds Building Society, said: “Tech and innovation are integral to providing the modern financial services that the Leeds City Region has become synonymous with. One-in-five of our people at Leeds Building Society hold a digital or tech role and they are fundamental to us delivering for our members. A thriving local FinTech industry also has a major role to play which is why we have been delighted to support this report.”
The new report is the result of a research project which was funded through sponsorship and support from organisations including: Leeds City Council, Leeds Building Society, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Bruntwood SciTech, Cloud Gateway, Equiniti, University of Leeds, FinTech North and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership. It is the third report published by Whitecap on the Leeds City Region, with the last was published early in 2020, just before the onset of Covid.
Tom Riordan, chief executive, Leeds City Council, said: “Whitecap Consulting has provided structure and clarity to the FinTech ecosystem in this report, and the in-depth research and analysis both quantifies and qualifies the strength, growth and maturity within the sector. It is great to see double digit growth across all of the key metrics since 2020, and the report recognises the diversity and key strengths across the range of tech sub sectors, from RegTech to LegalTech.”
Whitecap’s analysis shows growth of 263 per cent in the number of FinTech startups and scaleups with a presence in the region since 2020, now totalling 87 firms. In total there are 107 FinTech firms, and more than 200 firms identified as operating in the FinTech sector, including financial services and tech firms. The sector has been boosted in recent years by the decisions of organisations such as LHV Bank, Iwoca, Recognise Bank, Global Shares, and PEXA to establish bases in the region. New startups over the last 2 years include Answer Pay, the UK’s first certified provider of Request to Pay services, and Tred, which claims to be the only FinTech in Europe to be both B-Corp pending and a member of 1% For The Planet.
The 2021 Kalifa Review of FinTech across the UK also identified the Leeds-Manchester FinTech ‘cluster’ as one of three ‘established’ clusters outside London and recommended the creation of the Centre for Financial Innovation and Technology (CFIT), which will launch later this month with Charlotte Croswell, OBE, as its inaugural chair.
Croswell said: “The growth of the FinTech sector in Leeds is very impressive, and I look forward to working with the financial services, FinTech and technology sectors in the region and across the UK to drive international FinTech growth, attract talent into the fintech sector, and ensure better outcomes for consumers and SMEs. It is important we continue to enhance the links between industry, academia, government and regulators to support this exciting sector, and ensure that its impact is felt up and down the country.”
