Civic Hall, the office of Leeds City Council. Photos by Cecily Liu / China Daily

Members of new business club say they have the skills China needs to become a more consumption-led economy

You'd be forgiven for thinking there's little similarity between the former industrial region of Yorkshire, in the north of England, and China.

But a new business club being established there by a group of influential business, educational and industry organizations is hoping to grow dialogue between the two sides, based on one very basic business principle: they both need what each other has.

These are encouraging days for the former industrial area, now being grouped under the name Leeds City Region.

After the collapse of many its traditional activities, it is now considered the UK's largest economy and population center outside London, generating 4 percent of national economic output and employing 1.3 million people.

Look back not too far in history and you see Leeds, the area's biggest city with 1.8 million people, during the British Industrial Revolution being developed into a major industrial center: wool was the dominant industry but it also had strong flax, engineering, iron foundries, printing, and other industries.

Today though, this new region - which covers a wide and varied physical landscape and takes in much of the Yorkshire Dales National Park - has seen those former industrial sites transformed by more modern industry sectors.

It has a diverse economy consisting of about 106,000 businesses, spreading across its main towns of Leeds, Bradford, York, Kirklees, Barnsley, Wakefield, Selby, Calderdale, Harrogate and Craven, which generate output of 52 billion pounds ($83 billion; 61 billion euros).

Officials running the region, which has a population of about 7 million, position it as a center of economic intelligence, business innovation, the green economy, transport, housing and regeneration, healthcare, financial services, education and the creative industries.

But like many former industrial areas of the UK, with that level of diversification, come ambitions to look further afield to spread the net, and they are now firmly looking East.

Business links between China and the region are growing fast, facilitated by the range of opportunities the region offers China, and its increasing desire to attract foreign investment.

According to officials, the close match between Leeds' historical strengths and what China needs in order to upgrade its skills base, move up the production chain, and achieve a structural shift to a consumption focused economy provide massive opportunities for business cooperation.

Hence, the creation of the Leeds City Region China Business Club.

Co-founded by the Business Confucius Institute at the University of Leeds, the promotional agency Leeds and Partners, the China Britain Business Council, Xiamen Chamber of International Commerce, the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, and UK Trade and Investment, the business club is focused on capturing Chinese market opportunities and growing Leeds-China links, says Hinrich Voss, director of BCIUL.

"Having a club will help greatly, because it brings together many likeminded people.

"So if someone has a question or problem about doing business in China, the club can help."

Voss says demand for such a group in Leeds came mainly from the business community because many needed help going into China or working with Chinese companies.

Officially due to be launched on July 2 by CBBC Chief Executive Stephen Phillips, the club will have an advisory panel of businesses, from a diverse range of sectors, that are already knowledgeable about China.

The idea is for members to share experiences, and it has already held its first advisory panel meeting, during which it was agreed that it will serve as a "peer to peer support network", as well as to attract inward investment from China.

Its first major event is being planned for late September, a forum titled "Making a Noise", which will be part of the club's "how to" event series.

Voss says fostering a strong China-Leeds business relationships is a key objective of BCIUL, which was founded in November 2012 as a partnership between the University of Leeds and the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

Many Confucius Institutes, started by the Chinese government in 2004 to promote Chinese language and culture abroad, have their own priorities, and BCIUL has chosen a business focus.

Founding director Peter Buckley is a professor of international business at the University of Leeds, and has been instrumental in developing the link with the highly respected UIBE.

This focus on business means BCIUL concentrates on help related to doing business in China as well as teaching mandarin, with strong support from Leeds University Business School, says Peter Moizer, its dean and a professor of accounting.

Like the University of Leeds, Leeds Metropolitan University is also keen to establish links with China.

Andrew Disbury, director of its international office, says it established an office in China in 2012 to help attract more Chinese students and he has spent a lot of time in the country.

Metropolitan also has a partnership with Zhejiang University of Technology to provide a joint masters degree, which has already been completed by about 300 students, and has established a partnership with Beihang University, a public research university in Beijing, for student exchanges.

A fantastic variety of subjects has been taken up, including music production, architecture, art and design, as well as the more traditionally popular business subjects, Disbury says.

Meanwhile, away from academia, Leeds is firmly establishing strong Chinese links across other sectors.

Medical breakthroughs

Companies in its medical sector, especially, have been quick to grasp opportunities to expand into China, such as TPP, which made its name by providing medical records sharing technology for the UK's National Health Service.

Its first foray into China was in March last year as part of a trade delegation to Hangzhou and Shanghai, organized by UK Trade and Investment, which works with UK-based businesses to ensure their success in international markets through exports.

Since then, TPP has established cooperation with the health bureaus of Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces and has signed an agreement with the Zhejiang Center for Disease Control to enhance surveillance capabilities, including modern geographic mapping technology.

Chris Bates, its head of research and analytics, says his team works closely with health bureaus in China to make sure they have appropriate security around their data storage, and his team also delivers training to the Chinese users of its technology.

"Our approach is very hands on. We are always available," Bates says, adding that flexibility and responsiveness are what make TPP's offers so appealing to his Chinese customers.

Glocal Procurement Services Limited is another Leeds medical firm helping to facilitate trade between China and the West.

Founder and managing director Nick Carter says he helps Chinese equipment makers establish ties with Western suppliers, as well as helping Western medical equipment brands to access the emerging Chinese market.

Tourism links

Located so near Yorkshire Dales National Park, Leeds is also becoming a strong draw for Chinese tourists, with many of the city's retailers keen to target high spending shoppers.

Simon Oxby is operations manager at Berry's, a Leeds jeweler that has created its own partnership with a Chinese tour operator to promote its products to Chinese tourists.

Berry's is in the process of registering its trademark name in China, which would allow it to expand there in future.

Another example of tourism cooperation is Six Degrees Consultancy, based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, which helps Chinese tour operators plan trips and book the most desirable accommodation for their customers in the UK.

Trevor Lake, its managing director, says traditionally Chinese visitors to the UK have opted for the major tourist centers such as London or Manchester, but more now want to see the British countryside and stay at stately homes to get a different experience.

Before founding Six Degrees, Lake worked extensively in the British hotel industry, and says his knowledge and contacts allow him to respond to the needs of Chinese visitors quickly and efficiently, and make sure Chinese visitors receive the best service possible.

Joanna Lavan has also set up her own company, Connect China, based in Batley, West Yorkshire, which helps UK companies enter the Chinese market or solve problems they may encounter in China.

In 2000, she was asked by Leeds Metropolitan University to lead a project to build business links between Leeds and Hangzhou.

When that ended in 2004 she saw the natural progression of her career as setting up Connect China.

"We do training courses to help companies understand China. We do translation, interpretation, helping out with trade delegations, helping clients to solve problems concerning Chinese clients or Chinese suppliers, and a lot more," Lavan says.

DWA Architects, in nearby York, also has a growing reputation in China.

Last year, it won a contract to design an assisted living complex in Foshan, Guangzhou province, along with its Beijing-based partner TLD Design Consulting.

The complex is designed to accommodate 750 elderly people with severe and terminal care needs, with 450 independent and assisted living specialist apartments.

Mel Fairbourn-Varley, director of international projects at DWA, says his firm's expertise in understanding the needs of the residents in assisted living apartments was its key to winning the contract.

As all this varied trade and investment grows between China and Leeds, international law firms with offices in the city are increasingly finding themselves advising Chinese clients.

"We've had more Chinese activities in the last two years than previously," says Josh Wong, a partner at DLA Piper.

Many of the area's business links have been established by Chinese family business owners visiting their children who study in Leeds, who over time have grown to like the region, and then spotted business opportunities, he says.

Wong says many of his Chinese clients have invested in Leeds in the form of mergers and acquisitions, injecting capital into British heritage brands, particularly, to help them expand their reach into the Chinese market.

Paul Cotton, a senior partner at Eversheds, one of the world's largest corporate law firms, says it originally expanded into China by following its clients who had global operations, but more recently its Chinese client base in the UK has grown.

Eversheds first entered China in 2006, opening an office in Shanghai, which was followed by an office in Hong Kong in 2009 and Beijing in 2013.

Cotton's team in Leeds is taking on many more Chinese clients, he says, particularly in Leeds' new boom sectors of energy, retail, food and education, as well as traditional industries.

But it is not just private sector businesses and education that are enjoying the growing relationsip between Yorkshire and China.

In January, Mark Skipper, chief executive of Northern Ballet in Leeds, led a tour to China as part of a delegation organized by the city's promotional agency Leeds and Partners, a partner in the fledgling China Business Club.

Providing a cultural backdrop to a business-related group offers a different view of the city to potential Chinese partners, he says.

The January tour was the fifth his team had made to China in recent years. This time, Northern Ballet performed an adaptation of Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

In addition to giving six full-scale performances, it gave shorter exerpts to accompany the various business networking events organized by Leeds and Partners.

Skills for Care, a Leeds charity which works with care homes to set the standards and qualifications for social care provision in the UK, is also working hard to grow its China presence.

"The Chinese care system has a lot of similarities with the UK, particularly as both countries have a challenge with dementia," says James Turner, head of business development at Skills for Care.

"We hope to support the Chinese care sector by sharing our expertise and understanding of best practice, in terms of how to deliver care, how to nurture a person, and how to care for their families."

Roger Marsh, chairman of the Local Enterprise Partnership for the Leeds City Region, says Chinese investment represents massive potential for economic growth and jobs for the region.

The partnership recently submitted a strategic economic plan to the UK government to bid for a share of the local growth fund, which is designed to help small businesses based in Leeds expand and recruit local residents.

The plan outlines Marsh's ambition to deliver an additional 5.2 billion pounds in economic output, and an extra 62,000 jobs by 2021.

Marsh says that if the targets are met, Leeds and its surrounding area will become even more attractive to the growing number of Chinese, and other overseas investors eyeing this part of northern England.

Cecily.liu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 06/27/2014 page16)