A new industry-led board for the financial and professional services cluster in Leeds, known as the Northern Square Mile, met for the first time on 19 October 2026, Leeds City Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority said.
Its members include Lloyds Banking Group, Deloitte, Yorkshire Building Society, FinTech North and the University of Leeds, alongside the public sector. The board is chaired by Ed Whiting, chief executive of Leeds City Council, and is intended to give strategic leadership on innovation, investment, skills and international connections for the sector in Leeds and West Yorkshire.
A £6.5m innovation programme
One of the first initiatives the board will champion is the Leeds Financial Innovation Exchange (LFIX), a £6.5m programme led by the University of Leeds and delivered through Nexus. The council said LFIX will bring financial institutions, researchers and technology providers together on shared problems, from artificial intelligence and cyber security to fraud prevention and climate risk.
LFIX is backed by the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, a UK Government programme delivered through UK Research and Innovation that is investing £500m in regional innovation economies.
Councillor James Lewis, leader of Leeds City Council and Deputy Mayor of West Yorkshire, linked the board to the council’s economic plan, which he said sets out a roadmap to generate £20bn in economic growth and create 100,000 new jobs across the city in the next 10 years. He said the council has set the aim of doubling the growth of the Northern Square Mile.
Mark Burton, regional ambassador for Yorkshire at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “The challenge now is to turn that strength into real economic impact, with more innovation, investment and high-value careers.”
India links
The first meeting came as West Yorkshire develops a relationship with Gujarat, home to GIFT City, India’s international financial services centre, following what the release described as Yorkshire’s first joint trade mission to India.
The cluster’s pull on regulators is also visible in property: the Financial Conduct Authority has agreed to move its Leeds office to 2 Wellington Place in 2028. More from the sector is in our finance section.