Trade analysis for the Leeds City Region
Trade analysis for the Leeds City Region
Client: : Leeds City Region Economic Partnership
Date:2017
The Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership commissioned MDS Transmodal to complete a study on trade flows between the Leeds City Region and its individual districts, and the rest of the world.
The Question
How can you break down the UK’s regional statistics to produce estimates of international trade for the Leeds City Region and its individual districts? What are the key existing export markets and potential global opportunities for trading businesses in the City Region? What are the implications of the trade flows for the City Region’s transport infrastructure?
The Solution
- Broke down Regional Trade Statistics at the SITC 2 digit level into sub-regions using other sources of data at the sub-regional level;
- Used the MDST World Cargo Database to analyse the major growth markets in terms of absolute growth (top 10 exporters by value and volume) and relative growth rates (top 5 fastest growth in trade by value and volume);
- Presented road and rail freight flows from the GB Freight Model on the sub-regional networks and the location of distribution centres.
- Presented the strategic policy implications of the analysis of the Leeds City Region’s trade flows for the area’s transport infrastructure.
Achievements
The dataset and conclusions from the report were used by the client to develop its strategy to support local trading businesses in the light of the UK’s departure from the European Union.