The Leeds city region has one big advantage when it comes to coping with the current weakness in the UK economy. It is home to one of Europe’s biggest clusters of higher education institutions, which pumps £1.7bn ($2.6bn) a year into the local economy.
The city region contains seven universities – Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds, Leeds Met, Leeds Trinity, York, and York St John – which turn out 34,000 graduates a year, making it one of the most popular student destinations in the UK. It is also home to Leeds College of Music and the newly formed Leeds City College with another 60,000 students.
