Is Leeds the new wealth king of the North? Yorkshire’s commercial capital has become a major centre for wealth management, with new firms setting up bases alongside long-established names.
This may come as no surprise to some. Yorkshire is home to three billionaires: Wren Kitchens founder Malcolm Healey; the Shepherd family, whose £1.3 billion fortune comes from Portakabins; and DFS sofa magnate Lord Kirkham. Each of these UHNWs made their money in business, reflecting Leeds’ promising entrepreneurial environment.
Leeds has more high-growth businesses than the average local authority, according to the Office for National Statistics. Of the businesses in the city, 5.4 per cent are high-growth, compared with 4.2 per cent in the median local authority. This means that of the 32,385 companies in Leeds, 1,749 are rapidly expanding.
HSBC Global Private Banking opened its second UK wealth centre in Leeds in September 2025, offering bespoke asset management to HNW clients. Following the opening of its London wealth centre in July earlier that year, the team of 13 dedicated wealth managers now serves Yorkshire and the North East.
‘This new space has been designed with our private banking clients from Yorkshire and the North East in mind — a place where they can receive a stand-out, personalised wealth management service,’ said Rebecca Boardman, UK HNW North & Midlands regional head at HSBC Private Bank.
Likewise, Rothschild & Co opened its wealth management office in Leeds in 2022. Although the bank has operated in the city for 25 years via its global advisory team, this was its first dedicated wealth management office in the region.
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While some wealth managers have opened offices in Leeds in more recent years, others have had a presence in the city – or in Yorkshire at large – for decades. Rathbones’ Sheffield office dates back to the establishment of the city’s stock exchange in 1844. Likewise, Coutts has operated in Leeds for more than 30 years, since 1992, and Barclays Private Bank & Wealth Management opened its doors in 2007.
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Yorkshire has been a centre of wealth in the North since the 19th century. Cities such as Ripon and Bradford have held much of the county’s wealth since the Industrial Revolution, thanks to their once-booming textile industries.
Leeds is also home to the UK’s second-largest legal industry. The city’s “Big Six” group of law firms – Addleshaw Goddard, DLA Piper, Eversheds, Pinsent Masons, Squire Patton Boggs and Walker Morris – dominate their field.
However, Leeds-based technology and design businesses are also shaking things up and bringing new wealth into the city.
Technology strategy firm Accenture and software giant IBM have offices in Leeds, alongside homegrown names such as software development company Audacia and engineering and tech consultancy BJSS. A graduate of the University of Leeds told Spear’s that highly qualified graduates are now more likely to stay in the city, thanks to its job opportunities and affordability – in large part due to these companies’ presence there.
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Wealth managers are increasingly noticing this growth of business in Leeds, drawing many of them to the city.
Providing insight into Leeds’ emergence as a significant financial centre was Pat Doig, office head at Investec Wealth & Investment UK, which was acquired by Rathbones in 2023.
Doig, who has worked at the Leeds office for 15 years, explained how a Yorkshire-based wealth manager can do more for northern clients than a London-centric one could.
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‘I think Yorkshire people like working with Yorkshire people,’ he said. ‘There’s a sense of honesty that is deep-rooted within the culture. A lot of people who come to work in the county stay and don’t look to move elsewhere.’
The need for wealth managers to have more than one northern base was also emphasised by Doig.
‘Manchester serves North Wales, the Welsh borders and Merseyside too, meanwhile we are serving the broader Yorkshire region and North East,’ Doig said. ‘I don’t see Manchester as competition, as both there and Leeds are key economic hubs in their respective regions.’
Big names in wealth management, such as Coutts, Barclays Private Bank, and J.P. Morgan Private Bank, have offices in Manchester. While the city is not at odds with Leeds in Doig’s eyes, he did add that competition from London is making its way up the M1.
He jokingly said: ‘The evil likes of London-only companies coming up on the motorway to try and steal our clients. Unfortunately, that is a problem, and you can tell them to stick to Mayfair and wherever else they find their clients.’
Not all wealth managers share the same worries about London offices taking their business, however.
When asked whether the North-South divide was shrinking in wealth management, Alison Probert, head of Rothschild & Co’s Yorkshire and North East Wealth Management office in Leeds, argued that her team has consistently prioritised regional wealth.
‘We don’t really think about it from this perspective,’ she said. ‘For us, Leeds and the North more generally have always been a thriving and vibrant financial centre with a rich history and depth of talented people.’
However, she did recognise that the North is becoming more prosperous as a whole. ‘Certainly, technology and better transport links mean that increasingly more people are recognising the advantages of living and working in places other than London, which would certainly shrink any perceived divide,’ she said.
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Barclays Private Bank has had a wealth management office in Leeds since 2007, serving a large Yorkshire and North Eastern client base. Gordon Scott, their head of Midlands and North, emphasised the longevity of wealth management in Leeds.
‘While London often showcases dynamic, short-term investment and trading activity, we tend to see an emphasis on long-term planning and stewardship of family wealth,’ he said.
Scott added: ‘Entrepreneurs and business owners are at the heart of our Yorkshire client base. Many have built successful businesses in manufacturing, logistics, retail and healthcare, and more recently in technology.’
