Financial Leeds is stepping up its marketing activity to reinforce and strengthen the city region’s position as the UK’s leading centre for financial services outside of London as the economy recovers.
A twin track strategy is being employed, aimed at attracting more business to existing firms to develop the region’s market share whilst also promoting the city region as a highly desirable location for national and international financial organisations. The current investment is in the region of £100,000.
The new activity begins this month with selected advertising in national financial press and online business media, which also includes support for a major Financial Times report, Doing Business in the Leeds City Region, on March 17. This will be circulated both nationally and internationally including at MIPIM.
Financial Leeds is also participating in the Marketing Leeds-led Leeds in Barcelona
event in March and is considering other overseas activity following Samantha Cameron-Carruthers, marketing manager (left) and
last year's visit to China and Germany. Jaqcui Nuttall, inward investment manager of Financial Leeds
The activity follows the brand strengthening exercise last year, which saw the organisation change its name to Financial Leeds from Leeds Financial Services Initiative and the launch of a new web site and new inward investment materials. Now it has also strengthened the marketing team with the appointment of a specialist to develop the inward investment marketing.
Jacqui Nuttall has joined Financial Leeds as inward investment manager and brings with her ten years of business development experience in London with leading financial institutions, She will be working closely with chief executive Howard Kew and marketing manager Samantha Cameron-Carruthers, who has joined Financial Leeds (as maternity cover for Claire Rooney), having held a senior marketing role in the building society industry.
At the end of March, Financial Leeds is organising a major conference for SMEs
across the north of England, a sector it believes is vital to future economic growth
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business. ‘Moving Up 2010 - Growing your business to the next level’ will showcase many of the region’s financial and professional advisers.
Financial Leeds is to strengthen its links with City of London and will be involved in the new TheCityUK campaign which is being led by the City of London Corporation and International Financial Services London of which Financial Leeds is a member. TheCityUK plans to promote financial services from all over the UK, not just London, and will be launching an international campaign later in the year.
Commenting on the increase in marketing activity, Howard Kew said: “As the economy shows sign of recovery, we believe it is the right time to once again raise the profile of Leeds city region as centre of excellence in financial and professional services. We have a powerful case to state. Our financial and professional services are second to none, we offer more competitive rates than in London and have a breadth and depth of expertise that excels that on offer in other regional centres.
“At the same time the Leeds city region scores highly on all the key factors as a location for inward investment for firms looking to relocate. Leeds has risen to its highest position in the annual Cushman & Wakefield Survey of top European locations and scored number one for value for money of office space.”
Image above from the new advertising campaign.