The Legal Market in West Yorkshire

How does the market in West Yorkshire compare to Manchester? Is there more demand in one area over the other or are the regions quite competitive?

All legal markets are different and offer different challenges. The West Yorkshire legal market is very positive right now, with a great mix of clients including local, national and international law firms.

As the biggest county in England, Yorkshire has a huge variety of law firms across some great cities. In these cities, you are likely to find fewer firms ranked in mainstream areas such as corporate or litigation as you would do in Manchester. Instead, there’s a wealth of firms offering the opportunity to practice in more niche areas of law. For this reason, some of the firms that I deal with in Leeds also have a Manchester presence, however others are more Yorkshire specific. 

Both areas, Manchester and Yorkshire have seen plenty of positive change over the last few years and there’s no sign of that slowing down.

Do you see much interest in legal professionals looking to relocate from Manchester or other areas to Yorkshire, or is most of the recruitment there done regionally?

I regularly see and work with people who would happily relocate from Manchester to Yorkshire. With a lot of recruitment done regionally and the plethora of different types and sizes of law firms on offer, there are many reasons to relocate to Yorkshire. The law firms in the area provide many great attractions for those working in law, with some firms offering increased flexibility in working patterns and the ability to work remotely.

Many of my candidates and clients can also comfortably work several days in Manchester and Leeds, should there be offices in both areas. The ability and increase in cross-office co-operation makes flexible working a viable option for Lawyers.

There's a growing number of firms opening new premises in the West Yorkshire region. What is the attraction for firms in this area?

There are huge benefits for firms to open new premises in West Yorkshire. The region has excellent transport links with 42 trains per day between Leeds and London, taking an average of 2 hours 10 minutes, as well as an airport nearby. There is also substantial investment in cities like Leeds, meaning commercial property continues to be in demand. The Leeds City Region has the highest concentration of higher education institutions in the UK outside of London and the sector growth, for example in construction, financial, professional services and manufacturing, amongst others, makes it an attractive proposition for business.

Overall, Yorkshire is a desirable place to live and with all the excitement and buoyancy in the region, I can say it’s a pleasure to be able to help legal professionals here.