Financial services sector has key role to play in boosting exports, says report

YORKSHIRE’S FINANCIAL services sector has a key role to play in boosting the UK’s export performance, according to a new study.

A new report from TheCityUK has concluded that financial and related professional services firms in Yorkshire and the Humber enjoyed a record year in 2016 in terms of overseas sales, with exports up by 22 per cent to £4bn. Nationally, industry exports were up by 15.8 per cent to a total of £95.7bn.

A spokesman said: “TheCityUK report Exporting from across

Britain demonstrates for the first time the extent to which financial and related professional services firms based in Yorkshire and Humber export their services to the rest of the world.

“Financial services exports in 2015 were equivalent to just under half (44 per cent) of the industry’s total output in the region in 2015.”

Anjalika Bardalai, chief economist and head of research, The CityUK, said, “While London is an important piece of the puzzle, over half the industry’s exports come from elsewhere – £4bn from Yorkshire and Humber alone.

“In 2016, industry exports saw double-digit growth in nearly every part of the country. It’s this collective national contribution which helps to make the UK the world’s leading international financial centre.”

Commenting on the findings, Chris Hearld, TheCityUK City chair for Leeds, said, “The figures released today indicate the importance of a healthy and vibrant financial services sector to the UK and Yorkshire’s overall export performance.

“Our region has a great heritage and fantastic prospects in the sector – as evidenced in the strong growth in export performance in the last year”

The report shows that the South-East was the largest exporter of financial and related professional services outside London in 2016 (£11.6bn), followed by Scotland (£7.2bn) and the North-West (£6.6bn).