Row over legal centre supremacy as Manchester ‘overtakes Leeds’

James Haddleton, executive partner for DWF

MANCHESTER has overtaken Leeds as the fastest growing legal centre outside London, according to the chief executive of The Law Society.

Des Hudson said he believed that the movement of key decision makers out of Leeds was one of the reasons Manchester has gained the upper hand.

His claims were questioned by Leeds-based lawyers, who highlighted the fact that a number of major Manchester-based law firms have collapsed in recent years. Mr Hudson, who was born in Halifax, said during a trip to Leeds: “If I go back to, say 2005, looking at regional centres outside London, I would have said that Leeds had the fastest growth rate. My sense now is that you’ve been overtaken by Manchester as a regional centre. My sense is that they are growing more quickly. I expect there are lots and lots of factors involved here, but I do think there’s an issue for Leeds to think about. That’s not to say that Leeds isn’t a major centre for legal work here in the north east of England. It is. But I do think it’s lost the top spot in terms of regional centres growing quickly to Manchester.