Leeds City Region local enterprise partnership (LEP) has chosen the Aire Valley Leeds as its preferred location for an enterprise zone.

Enterprise zones are a Government initiative to encourage private sector growth by allowing LEPs to choose areas that can enjoy benefits such as reduced business rates and simplified planning rules.

It said that after a detailed analysis of each proposal the Aire Valley Leeds was identified as…

The majority of manufacturing firms in the Leeds City Region who attended a keynote business breakfast in Leeds this week say they are planning to invest for growth this year. Nearly every firm at the Leeds Manufacturing breakfast seminar said they have growth plans in 2011.

While the skills gap and over-regulation present continuing problems for manufacturing companies, management from firms including…

More than half of businesses in Leeds, York and North Yorkshire are under serious pressure to increase prices as a result of rising overheads, fuel and raw material costs according to research carried out by Leeds University Business School.

But, aware of the potential impact on their competitiveness, rather than passing price rises on to customers they are working hard to find new ways of reducing overall costs and reduce…

Two words – ‘carbon’ and ‘people’ sum up the biggest challenges facing manufacturing, according to CEO and chaiman of GSM Group Barry Dodd. Speaking this week at a manufacturing lunch organised by Leeds Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by law firm Irwin Mitchell, he argued that rising fuel costs in energy and logistics combined with new ‘carbon taxes’ will make it critical for business,…