Leeds is experiencing massive investment in its city center. Projects worth £5.9 billion ($10.8 billion) are either in the works or planning stages.

   Motor about 45 miles (72.4 km.) further east on M62 and you'll see the expanding cityscape of Leeds, a financial center bustling with new office towers and office parks. Like Manchester, the city has a history as a textile manufacturing and trade center. And, like the cities to the west, Leeds has a musical heritage. The Who's classic live album "The Who at Leeds" was recorded at its red-brick institution, Leeds University, in 1970.
   As traditional industries waned, Leeds segued into a diverse mix of financial and professional services with some light manufacturing, a mix that city leaders say has shielded the city from significant economic downturns. Much of the recent growth has come the through the M&A route with companies expanding following transactions.
   "Over the last 15 to 20 years, Leeds has moved away from being a traditional northern city," says Ian Williams, executive director of the Leeds Chamber of Commerce & Industry. "The city's physical appearance as well as its economic base has changed."
   Leeds also has considerable call center activity and is home to the U.K's first Internet bank, First Direct. The city also has a small, but fast-growing life sciences sector emanating from research at Leeds University. The city's central location – two hours from London and two hours from Edinburgh via train – is also an advantage. Leeds' rail station is the U.K.'s busiest outside of London with 1,000 trains and 100,000 people passing through daily.
   Leeds' city center will see 460,000 sq. ft. (42,700 sq. m.) of new office space open in 2006. Regeneration of formerly blighted areas of the city center is a major theme here. A prime example is the Wellington Place project, a 10-year plan that will eventually provide 1.5 million sq. ft. (139,350 sq. m.) of office space. The large tract of inner-city space is giving developers a rare opportunity.
   "A 22-acre [9-hectare] site is rare in any English city," says Alex Munro, partner with Knight Frank, commercial property developer of Wellington Place.
   Munro says financial and legal services firms are the logical first targets to fill the towers. There's also a national scheme to move some government offices away from London;

Thorpe Park Leeds, when fully developed, will be the U.K's third largest business park. It is home to a mix of firms, including the headquarters of Northern Foods, a leading manufacturer of prepared foods.

Munro says landing some of those is a possibility.
   An array of developed and developing business parks lines the city's periphery. Thorpe Park is the largest of these and will eventually become the U.K.'s third largest business park, covering 271 acres (110 hectares). Belgian Bank KBC recently opened a small office there to serve Northern England.
   Leeds Valley Park, on the city's southeastern outskirts, is another developing center of commerce and includes the home office of Arla Foods, a leading U.K. dairy supplier. The park is one of many developments either developing in or earmarked for the Aire Valley region, an area billed as the window to Leeds for its accessible location. A major regeneration effort involving £20 million ($36.8 million) in government funding is helping lay the foundation for projects that could create 29,000 jobs over the next 10 to 15 years in an area of more than 2,470 acres (1,000 hectares).