Apprentice Information - Regional Information

About the Region

Yorkshire and the Humber is one of England's nine regions. It covers most of the traditional county of Yorkshire, including North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and East Riding, with part of Northern Lincolnshire (previously in the administrative county of Humberside). The region covers an area of 15,411 square kilometers and has a population of over five million.

It has a GDP of over £75 billion, making it similar, both in economy and size, to Scotland and Denmark. It is one of Europe’s fastest growing regions and is home to more than a quarter of a million companies. It still has a considerable manufacturing industry with the sector predicted to grow by 12% over the next 10 years. Half of the world’s top ten companies have a base in the region.

Its 2.5 million strong workforce leads the country in sectors as varied as advanced engineering, food production, bioscience and digital technologies. The IT sector is one of the fastest growing in the UK, while the region has the country’s largest concentration of food research and production. It is also the UK’s most profitable region with a return on investment of 12.4%. A recent survey showed that financial and business services companies are the most optimistic in the region when it comes to future employment.

The region boasts no fewer than five great cities – Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and York, and these have become the drivers of business growth throughout Yorkshire and the Humber. Each offers a truly distinctive commercial environment that, when grouped together, embraces every sector of modern commerce.

Outside London, Leeds is the largest financial and professional services centre in the UK. There are 8 universities based in the region, as well as the Humber campus of the University of Lincoln and the Open University. The region also boasts three higher education colleges and 42 further education colleges.

The universities spend £317 million a year on research and attract more students than anywhere else in the country, producing 13% of the UK's graduates.

As well as thriving towns and cities, Yorkshire and Humber has more national parkland, historic houses and castles than any other region, and boasts spectacular scenery and a Heritage coastline. Its three National Parks comprise an area of over 1,000 sq miles of national parkland and the Yorkshire coast has 160 km of shoreline with three Heritage Coasts.

Yorkshire and the Humber Links

Government-related sites

Yorkshire Forward

Yorkshire and the Humber Assembly

Yorkshireeurope

Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber

Local Government Yorkshire and Humber

HEFCE - Yorkshire and the Humber information

Tourist and promotional sites

Yorkshire Tourist Board

Information about Yorkshire

Guide to Yorkshire

Yorkshire Dales & Yorkshire Dales

About Humberside

Humberside is a sub-region that does not really exist! It was created as a non-metropolitan county in 1974, from two areas either side of the Humber estuary, comprising parts of East and West Ridings of Yorkshire and the northern part of Lincolnshire.

This appeared to be a ‘forced marriage’ with few supporters. The opening of the Humber Bridge in June 1981 still did not improve the relationship - a report prepared in 1990 indicated that 63% of respondents thought that the creation of Humberside was "bad", 14% that it was "good".

Divorce came in 1996, with four unitary authorities being formed: North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, Kingston upon Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire. The name has continued in use as a geographic term and in names of institutions such as Humberside Police and Humberside Fire and Rescue Service. There is still a Humberside Airport between Scunthorpe and Grimsby, as well as BBC Radio Humberside.

The sub-region also continues to exist in terms of the scope of the regional development authority - Yorkshire Forward, which represents Yorkshire and the Humber.

Universities and colleges
There are two universities in the sub-region - the University of Hull and the University of Lincoln’s campus in Hull. The following colleges of further education also offer higher education:

North Lindsey College (Scunthorpe)
Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education
Hull College
Bishop Burton College
East Riding College (two sites)

Local Links
East Riding Council

Hull City Council

Gateway

East Riding Business Network

North Lincolnshire Council

North Lincolnshire Tourism

North Lincolnshire Images

Lincs UK

About North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire was created in 1974, covering much of the former North Riding but also including some of the northern part of the old West Riding of Yorkshire. At over 8,600 km2 it is the largest county in England. It comprises seven local government districts Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby. York is a separate unitary authority, separate from North Yorkshire.

The county stretches from Ingleton in the west to Filey on the coast. It includes two National Parks - the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors, and two areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty - Nidderdale and the Howardian Hills.

In the south of the county, near the Selby coalfields, large coal-fired power stations can be found with Drax and Eggborough providing over 10% of the country’s power supply.

Universities and colleges
There are two universities in the sub-region – the University of York and the York St John University. The University of Hull also has a campus in Scarborough. The following colleges of further education also offer higher education:

York College
Craven College
Askham Bryan College
Yorkshire Coast College of Further and Higher Education
Selby College

Local Links
North Yorks info

North Yorks Moors & North Yorks Moors

Yorkshire Dales

York and North Yorks partnership

North Yorks County Council

North Yorks Learning Net

North Yorks Strategic Partnership

Holidays in North Yorks

North Yorkshire Towns

About South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire was created as a metropolitan county in 1974 from the southern part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and the former county boroughs of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. The region is divided into four local government districts; they are the City of Sheffield, the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham. The county borders Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.

The principal conurbations of South Yorkshire are:

Sheffield, an industrial city whose economy is historically based on steel production and cutlery manufacturing. Today it is known for its sports facilities, culture and tourist industry.

Doncaster, an old Roman town known for railways and horse racing;

Rotherham, an industrial town bordering Sheffield on the River Don;

Barnsley, a market town on the River Dearne, the former administrative centre of the metropolitan county.

South Yorkshire has a growing economy with a workforce of over 1.28 million. Comparatively, South Yorkshire has a higher percentage of people of working age than other major areas such as London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Newcastle and Glasgow.

South Yorkshire has two universities, six colleges of further education and 598 schools. The region also has a number of Academies which specialise in areas such as Science with Business and Enterprise, Performing Arts with Business and Enterprise, and Business and Enterprise. South Yorkshire also has Doncaster Business School's Innovation Academy which is devoted to raising the level of economic activity in South Yorkshire through Innovation and Enterprise.

The universities in Sheffield offer excellent research facilities, top rated teaching, a combined population of over 53,000 students delivering 12,000 graduates each year. Recent research by the Royal Bank of Scotland has revealed that graduates living in Sheffield are the sixth happiest in the country, and that Sheffield is the most highly rated major city for graduate satisfaction, reflecting the city’s reputation as an excellent place to live.

Existing regional employers are investing in their staff through job related training. During 2005, over 16% of the South Yorkshire workforce was involved in work related training, which is above the national average of 13.9%.

The region can also boast of being above the national average for holders of NVQ qualifications with 83% of working age people holding qualifications up to NVQ level 4.

Universities and colleges
There are two universities in the sub-region - the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, although The University of Huddersfield now has a centre in Barnsley.

The following colleges of further education also offer higher education:

Northern College
Sheffield College
Rotherham College of Arts and Technology
Dearne Valley College
Doncaster College
Rother Valley College

Local Links
The South Yorkshire Partnership

Renaissance South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire Tourism

Peak District National Park

About West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region with a population of 2.1 million, covering an area of over 2,000 km². West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974. It comprises five metropolitan boroughs (City of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, City of Leeds and City of Wakefield). The principal towns are Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds and Wakefield.

The county’s industrial heritage was focused on woollen textile and carpet manufacture, with Leeds becoming a focus for tailoring. Well-known names such as Hepworth and Montague Burton, which had the largest clothing factory in the world in its hay-day, were based there. Engineering played a major part of the economy with steam locomotives and traction engines being exported across the globe. Printing too was, and is, a key industry with John Waddington becoming the largest company in the world manufacturing games and playing cards. Coal mining was a major employer in the south east of the county, centered on the Wakefield district, until its decline in the 1980s. Despite the closure of companies such as Yorkshire Chemicals, Hickson’s, Holliday’s and Lambson’s since 2000, the chemical industry is still a major part of the county’s economy with manufacture mainly in the area between Bradford, Huddersfield and Leeds.

Little remains of the ‘dark satanic mills’, although the textile industry is still an important industry and engineering companies still remain competitive in high-technology markets. Leeds is the largest financial centre in England outside London and is one of the fastest-growing cities in the UK. Many new companies have sprung up focused on new technologies, such as the digital sector, with Pace Micro and Filtronic in Bradford and Freeserve starting in Leeds. Currently, over 33% of the UK's internet traffic goes through Leeds.

Universities and colleges
There are seven institutions classified as universities in the sub-region - the University of Bradford, the University of Huddersfield, the University of Leeds, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds Trinity and All Saints, Leeds College of Music and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. In addition to those, the University of Leeds also has a centre in Wakefield and the Open University’s regional office is based in Leeds.

The following colleges of further education also offer higher education: