As England’s fourth largest city with a peak commute catchment population of over 2.1 million, Sheffield has a vibrant commercial sector and is an ideal location for strategic and operational business and financial service activities. Over 437,000 employees (45.7%) work in the private service sector, of which 119,500 (12.5%) are employed in the financial service sector.
The city is home to significant strategic functions of companies such as HSBC, Capita, Aviva, Santander, DLA, Irwin Mitchell, and Royal Mail amongst others. They have chosen to locate and grow in the city due to their positive experience.
Sheffield’s key strengths lie in areas where skills have been developed around finance, IT and customer services. This is evidenced in the fact that there are numerous shared service centres and operations performing these functions.
Sheffield’s strength in IT support and data related activities is underlined by 9.2% of all business services jobs being found in this area, against just 6.5% nationally. The city has built a reputation for advanced customer service centre activity, it was one of the first UK cities to develop a significant technical competence in financial service back office and customer service activities.
For more information on key business areas please view:
The key commercial benefits of operating in Sheffield are:
An attractive location for recruitment of employees:
- A large recruitment catchment of over 2.1 million people within a 60 minute peak commute of the city centre
- 64.8% of the catchment population (1.4 million people) are of working age
- Employees have up to date and relevant work skills; training participation rates in the city are high – 27% of service sector employees are undertaking training
- Over 300,000 people hold a degree level qualification or higher
- Labour turnover rates in the region average 10%, compared to 15% nationally.
Business orientated universities:
- There are 58,500 students in the city at the The University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, with good graduate retention rates
- 16,000 students graduate each year annually
- Particular strengths and above average student numbers are found in business studies, modern languages, and law
- There are 12 universities within an hours drive, producing 324,000 students and 96,000 graduates annually
- Consult IWP at the Institute Of Work Psychology (The University of Sheffield), is a world leader in understanding the way people drive organizational effectiveness.
High quality cost effective location:
- There is a good supply of Grade A office accommodation within the city, with occupancy costs at 40% below London
- Salaries are on average 29% lower than London, with particular strengths in IT support staff, sales and customer services, and professional occupations.
Sheffield offers an exciting opportunity, but don’t just take our word for it...
“ We have a very positive staff experience in Sheffield, stong links with local organisations and our staff turnover rates are very low enabling us to deliver high quality, cost effective services.”
Tracey Moore, Operations Director at Capita
“Sheffield is a vibrant city with a diverse multicultural society and two highly regarded universities. Over our 36 years of trading history we have found it to be an excellent area from which to recruit capable and loyal individuals.”
Anne Roberts, Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Close Credit Management
For further information on the business and financial service sector, including tailored support for your project please contact:
Ann Allen, Investment Manager - +44 (0)114 223 2367