A gigabit revolution for Leeds businesses

Recent figures suggest that Leeds City region’s economy has grown to a staggering £62.5billion. With over 50,000 more small businesses in Yorkshire than in 2010, it’s clear to see that the region is thriving; but how can we ensure that Leeds companies continue to succeed and that the region remains an attractive location for inward investment?

Digital has been the single biggest influence on business in the last decade, and this looks set to continue. With the growth of digital technologies, businesses are increasingly aware that they need fast, reliable, high capacity internet connectivity to support them as they move into the digital age. Connectivity is no longer simply about internet access, it now underpins a business’ entire operational capability. As our digital dependency increases, it is evident that a fit-for-purpose digital infrastructure is essential. Recognising this increasing dependency, CityFibre has begun a gigabit revolution across the UK, recently investing £70m in ultrafast full-fibre infrastructure across the North of England alone. CityFibre recently opened up a 117km ultrafast full-fibre network in Leeds, turning it into a Gigabit City. The Gigabit network in Leeds supports upload and download speeds of up to 1000 Megabits per second, making it possible to download multiple files, or send high resolution documents in an instant. The network is also enabling the region’s businesses to become more agile as gigabit speeds allow staff to utilise cloud computing and high quality video conferencing. In addition to increasing office productivity and efficiency, this new infrastructure opens up an array of opportunities for remote data storage and improved data security as files can be automatically backed up on the cloud. In the unlikely event of a fault, cloud data recovery is around four times faster than the same process in traditional computing and the failure can easily be traced back to the source. One of the first companies to sign up to the service in Leeds was GDS Link, a provider of risk management software across the globe. Keith Hale of GDS Link commented: “We can already see the improvements in our productivity after just a couple of weeks. It gives us the ability to experience a whole new level of internet capabilities – we were expecting it to be amazing and it lives up to our expectations.” This new network will allow companies to transform the way they do business, ensuring data connectivity and communication needs are met for years to come. Ultimately, connectivity is vital for future economic growth in the Leeds City Region and this type of world class, gigabit speed infrastructure provides the foundation for businesses to build some of the most digitally advanced companies in the world, making Leeds one of the most attractive business locations in the UK. To find out how you can access this ultra-fast network in Yorkshire, register your interest at cityfibre.com/Leeds