Office investment boost

Confidence in Leeds as a financial centre has grown with the announcement by industry leaders –accountancy firm Price Waterhouse Coopers and legal advisers Walker Morris, Squire Saunders, DAC Beechcroft and Shulmans - that they need more office space in the city.

The requirements amount to 240,000 sq ft (or just over three football pitches) combined, and would represent a financial investment of more than £100 million.

PwC alone - which employs some 600 staff in Leeds - is believed to have issued a requirement for 60,000 sq ft. Walker Morris is claimed to be looking for about 85,000 square feet.

These demands will lead to a temporary shortage of office space in Leeds, which like other commercial centres has been hit by a downturn in new office construction projects.