Students from Leeds are helping to boost the city's economy according to a report featured in the local media.

The article in today's Yorkshire Evening Post highlights the benefits that students living in Leeds, including those from Leeds Met, bring to the city. Businesses such as pubs to pizza takeaways, laptop shops to taxi firms are amongst those cited as thriving during term time.

With an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 higher and further education students in the city, it is claimed that they are possibly one of the city's last remaining and most successful industries.

Senior lecturer in Marketing, John Temperley offers his thoughts on the undergraduate revolution, "Students are a positive force for the Leeds economy as consumers."
 
Not only do the students contribute to the city's purse, but they are also getting stuck in to various projects, including studying shopping behaviours and their impact on the area, as John explains, "From a Leeds Business School perspective they have contributed and will continue to do so in terms of projects around the city.

"Students have been involved in shopping behaviour studies and are currently investigating Leeds Shopping Week's impact on the local economy. The results of this work are being fed back to Leeds City Council in the form of their city centre management team as a positive contribution to thinking about developments in retail and shopping activities."

Liam, Challenger, Associate President Community and Wellbeing in the Leeds Met Students' Union, says, "It's great to see the valuable economic contribution that students make to this great city recognised. Let's hope students and business can continue to work together such as our Headingley shopping campaign."

During their time at university and college many of the students fall in love with Leeds and end up staying and working here, keeping the economy buoyant  and helping to make the city a more attractive destination for prospective undergraduates in the future, thus continuing the economy snowball rolling.