3
Leeds & Hull
Leeds and Hull are two Yorkshire cities with serious ambition. With investment
in no short supply, they offer organisers superb variety
orkshire has long been
associated with
successful industry.
Historically famous for
textiles, mills and coal, the county
has performed strongly in adapting
to the modern world, and now
events of all disciplines make up a
large part of the region’s economy.
This being Yorkshire, though,
things aren’t done by halves. In fact,
you could say they’re done by
doubles. Leeds, the largest city in
the county, and Hull, the city to have
been most recently transformed,
are collaborating to show off what
two cities combined can offer event
organisers.
Hull was famously the UK City of
Culture in 2017, about which you
can read more on p5, yet the drive
to develop further hasn’t slowed.
Hull is serious in its ambitions, and
in May 2019 put forward plans to
the National Lottery Heritage Fund
for £15m to progress the Hull:
Yorkshire’s Maritime City project
that will transform and promote the
city’s 800 years of nautical history.
The bid will see the refurbishment
of the Hull Maritime Museum to
open up more of its hidden
architecture, provide a new
dry-berth and full restoration for the
Above:
Queen Victoria Square, Hull
Arctic Corsair at the North End
Shipyard and the restoration of the
Spurn Lightship, creating many
more jobs. Projects like this are key
drivers for events, especially
industries looking for suitable
tie-ins, such as shipping and
off-shore oil and gas. The nearby
Humberside International Airport
has daily flights to Amsterdam’s
Schiphol Airport, ideal for
international connections.
Leeds, which is less than a
one-hour drive or even shorter train
journey to the West of Hull, has
become a leading destination for
conferences and meetings, which
we explore in more detail on p8.
The ambitions around this city
extend far and wide and being on
the proposed HS2 route will provide
a major boost.
At present, it takes just over two
hours to get to Leeds from London.
HS2 would reduce this time to one
hour and 20 minutes. Transport
investment continues as not only is
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Leeds station itself being upgraded,
but there are massive infrastructure
improvements planned for Leeds
Bradford Airport. Work began in
April 2019 to extend the terminal
building, while the Masterplan for
the site suggests the airport will
handle 7.1m passengers by 2030.
With all this change in the air,
Leeds and Hull believe collaboration
is key. While on a map the two cities
may seem far apart, a rail journey
between them takes less time than
crossing London, and in this context
it makes perfect sense for
organisers to explore the best of
both worlds.