Editorial standards
How we source, check and correct what we publish.
Where our reporting comes from
We build stories from primary sources: company filings at Companies House, property records at HM Land Registry, planning applications and decisions from Leeds City Council, announcements from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, data from the Office for National Statistics, and announcements from the businesses involved, alongside the people affected.
Where we learn of something from a press release, we write the story ourselves from the facts we have been given, check what we can against the original source, and say who supplied it. We do not republish press releases or wire copy as articles, and we do not rewrite other publications' reporting.
AI assistance and human review
Some of our drafting is done with the assistance of AI tools. Since 24 October 2026, Sam Allcock reads every story before publication, except stories based on press releases submitted to Free Press Releases (our sister press release service), which publish after automated checks against the release and are marked as such. Stories carry his byline.
Briefings and embargoes
We do not agree to copy approval, and we do not share questions or lines with a company or its advisers before publication. Where we were briefed or given access rather than obtaining material independently, we say so in the article where it is relevant.
Not investment or business advice
Our reporting is journalism about business in Leeds, not investment, legal or business advice. It is published for general information to help you understand what is happening across the city's companies, finance, property and wider economy. It is no substitute for advice tailored to your own circumstances from a suitably qualified adviser.
Keeping the record straight
Where a story develops, a deal completes, a set of results is confirmed, a development is approved, we update or follow it rather than leaving an incomplete account in place. Where an article has been materially updated after publication, we say so and give the date.
Images
We use real photographs: those supplied with a story by the people who took or own them, and credited, or ones we have taken ourselves. We do not use stock photographs to illustrate news, and we do not use AI-generated images. We check supplied images for signs of AI generation before we use them, and if an organisation can only supply generated images we ask for real photography or run the story without a picture.
A story with no photograph carries the site's skyline artwork, which is branded artwork and is never presented as a photograph of the subject.
Corrections
We will correct anything we get wrong, and say that we have. Corrections are noted on the article with the date rather than made silently. Send them to editor@leedsbusinessnews.co.uk.
Independence
Advertising has no influence on what we cover. Partner content is labelled as such and is not presented as reporting. We do not charge PR agencies or press offices for coverage. Where we have a commercial relationship with a company we are writing about, we disclose it in the article.