Leeds In Conversation

On this episode, Eve Roodhouse (Chief officer of Culture & Economy- Leeds City Council) is joined by Tom Riordan (Chief Executive at Leeds City Council) as they look back over the past year and discuss all the highlights Leeds has experienced in 2021. They also discuss their hopes for 2022, as we look forward to welcoming new inward investments and exciting events.   To submit your favourite highlights from the year or hopes for 2022, follow us on @LeedsIGS on Twitter or @Leedscouncil on Instagram

Join Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer Culture & Economy at Leeds City Council), Shaid Mahmood (Chair of the Luminate Education Group and chief officer for transformation and change at Leeds City Council) and Tracey Dawson (Chair of the Leeds Manufacturing Alliance and Managing Director of electronics manufacturer, Daletech) as they discuss the changing jobs and skills landscape across Leeds. The city needs to remain agile and resilient to ensure we continue to thrive in the face of change and give our businesses and individuals the right skills and support to make this happen.  Find out more about what the city is doing to tackle this challenge, and the hurdles we need to overcome to reach our goal in this episode of our Leeds in Conversation podcast. To join in with the citywide conversation on how we tackle these challenges and create a city owned plan for skills and talent in the city visit - https://futuretalentleeds.org/welcome open until the 29 Sept (with a further conversation running later in the year too!)

With our biggest guest attendance to date, Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer Culture & Economy) is joined by Alistair Brownlee (British Triathlete and Leeds Active Travel Ambassador), Ellen Buttrick (British Paralympic rower and Gold Medal winner at Tokyo 2020), Jack Laugher (British Olympic diver and Bronze medal winner at Tokyo 2020) and Lou Walker (Leeds Girls Can Project Lead and Active Leeds Development Officer) as they discuss the highlights of Tokyo 2020, why Leeds is such an incredible place to live and train for sports and how everyone can take part across the city. Guests answer questions submitted by Leeds citizens including how we close the opportunity gap for sports across the city and what life skills have the athletes gained from their journey so far.

On this episode, Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer of Culture & Economy- Leeds City Council) is joined by David hopes (Head of Leeds Museums and Galleries), Catherine Robins (Project Curator- 200th year anniversary) and Rathi Tamilselvan (Volunteer at Leeds Museums and Galleries). Together, they discuss the 200 year anniversary exhibition, going live in September 2021, and the experience of developing the project during the challenges of the pandemic. They also talk about the work ongoing to identify and decolonise their collections across the museums and the award they won for closing the Covid gap in education. To submit questions for future episodes, follow us on @LeedsIGS on Twitter or @Leedscouncil on Instagram

On this episode, Angela Barnicle (Chief officer of Asset management and regeneration- Leeds City Council) is joined by Dr Matthew Davis (Associate Professor- Leeds University Business School) and Chris Thompson (Founder and Managing Director- CITU) to discuss how the pandemic has accelerated the need to improve infrastructure and ensure a future proof city for health and wellbeing as well as collaboration and shared spaces. They also learn more about the study conducted by Matt on how peoples behaviours are changing towards interactions with their environments and the impact of different office designs when thinking about returning to work. To submit questions for future episodes, follow us on @LeedsIGS on Twitter or @Leedscouncil on Instagram

On this episode, Eve Roodhouse (Chief officer of Culture & Economy- Leeds City Council) is joined by Angela Barnicle (Chief officer of Asset management and regeneration- Leeds City Council) and Martin Hamilton (Director of Leeds Civic Trust) to discuss the changing city scape of Leeds and how our past and heritage are influencing the cities future. Following questions submitted by the public, they share fascinating stories of the history of Leeds and how these are impacting the projects shaping the city today as well as discussing why the city continues to hold such an important role for Leeds as a whole. To submit questions for future episodes, follow us on @LeedsIGS on Twitter or @Leedscouncil on Instagram

Meet two young entrepreneurs living and working in Leeds, and discover some of the support for innovation on offer in the city. Award-winning student Ava Garside reveals how she came up with an air quality badge sensor to help pedestrians find the healthiest routes. Rebecca O'Higgins speaks about developing /ki-ah-na/, facial recognition software that works for all skin colours and genders. They respond to questions from listeners and discuss diversity, sustainable business and the new start-up accelerator BUILD, with Richelle Schuster, Head of Programme Innovation at Leeds City Council. Join the conversation or submit questions for future episodes, via @LeedsIGS on Twitter or @Leedscouncil on Instagram

On our first episode for series 2 Eve Roodhouse (Chief officer of Culture & Economy) is joined by Peter Neckelmann (Senior Urban Designer- Arup) and Mark Hollander (Leeds 2023 Year of Culture) to discuss what the future of our city and districts could look like. Following questions submitted by the public, they debate what support for independent businesses might look like, how we will better support and celebrate diversity across Leeds and how we make better use of our public spaces and parks. To submit questions for future episodes, follow us on @LeedsIGS on Twitter or @Leedscouncil on Instagram

In this final episode for 2020 - Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer of Economic Development at Leeds City Council) is joined by Sinead Rocks (Managing Director Nations & Regions at Channel 4)  to countdown our top 10 moments for Leeds amongst what has been one of the most challenging and difficult years of all. We hear from Kevin Sinfield on the success of Leeds Rhinos and his amazing work to raise awareness of MND, the team behind #BuyLeeds and Digital Access West Yorkshire on supporting the community as well as a massive thank you to our NHS and key workers for keeping us all safe past, present and future. If listeners have any thoughts on what was discussed in this episode or if they want to join the conversation they can tweet us @LeedsIGS

On this episode James Brining (Artistic Director and CEO of Leeds Playhouse and an Inclusive Growth Strategy Ambassador) is joined by Pamela Johnson (Principal Officer, Culture and Sport, Leeds City Council) and Kully Thiarai (Creative Director, Leeds 2023) to discuss the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on culture in Leeds. They discuss the affect culture and creativity have in people's experience of a city and how important it is in making Leeds the great place it is – to live, to work and to visit. They talk about the Leeds Cultural Strategy and the conversations taking place with communities across the city around the different concepts of ‘culture'; how it links to ‘placemaking' and the plans for Leeds 2023.

In this episode Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer of Economic Development at Leeds City Council) is joined by Polly Cook (Chief Officer Sustainable Energy & AQ- at Leeds City Council) and Gordon Rogers (Head of Sustainability- Yorkshire Water) to discuss the impacts of climate change across Leeds. They discuss the importance of the Climate emergency declaration back in 2019 and what changes and projects have happened since then across housing, travel and biodiversity. They also reflect on how the pandemic has impacted our climate for the positive, and what ways that has led to changes in how we travel and communicate. If listeners have any thoughts on what was discussed in this episode or if they want to join the conversation they can tweet us @LeedsIGS

On this episode Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer of Economic Development at Leeds City Council) is joined by Tom Riordan (Chief Executive at Leeds City Council) where they reflect back on the first episode of the podcast and revisit their original expectations for 2020. They discuss the enormous efforts made across the city during the height of the pandemic and what their hopes are for the remainder of the year, focusing on recovery and future growth.

On this episode, Sue Wynne (Chief Officer Employment and Skills at LCC) is joined by Peter Slee (Vice Chancellor at Leeds Beckett University and Chair of the Leeds Anchors Network) and James Goodyear (Director of Strategy at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust) to discuss the ongoing projects and developments taking place across the Leeds Anchors Network. Sue explains what the Anchors network is, what it does and why it's so important to the city of Leeds. The group reflect on how the network has been impacted by the ongoing pandemic, what future projects are coming up (including the development of the new hospital) and how the network will play a vital role in the recovery of the city.

On this episode, Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer of Economic Development at Leeds City Council) is joined by Jason Tutin (Digital and Learning Development Manager, Leeds Libraries) and Roz Davies (Managing Director, Mhabitat) to discuss the barriers and challenges of being digitally excluded. They explain what is meant by digital exclusion and why it is so important to ensure everyone has access to digital and internet facilities for health and wealth benefits. They also reflect on the ways Covid-19 has increased the digital divide and how business, enterprises and government organisations can help reduce this gap. To join in on the conversation, visit it us twitter @LeedsIGS and use #Linc To find out more about the digital champion initiative, click here- https://digitalinclusionleeds.com/home/digital-champions/ To donate your laptop or tablet- click here https://accesswy.org/donate/

On this episode, Shaid Mahmood (Chief Officer of Communities, Leeds City Council) is joined by Richard Jackson (Chief Officer- Voluntary Action Leeds and Inclusive Growth Strategy ambassador) and Joanna Resnick (Producer, Slung Low) to discuss the enormous efforts from the third sector during the current pandemic. They explain how Voluntary Action Leeds and Leeds City Council came together to deliver help and support to vulnerable communities in response to Covid-19. They also reflect on how wider third sector organisations (particularly Slung Low) responded to the pandemic and the challenges for the third sector beyond Covid-19. *Apologies for the slight audio glitches throughout as we are remotely recording from the speaker's homes during the current lockdown* To join in on the conversation, visit it us twitter @LeedsIGS and use #Linc

On this episode, Sinead Rocks (Managing Director Nations & Regions at Channel 4) is joined by Sam Fray (Beyond Brontes Programme Manager) and Ben Hepworth (Managing Director at Prime Studios) to discuss the changing landscape of the creative and media sector in Leeds. They reflect on the big announcements that were made pre-pandemic and the growth of the industry within the region. They also tackle a number of challenges the sector faces including the social distancing measures brought in as well as wider issues including diversity and inclusivity and how they have responded to these. To join in on the conversation, visit us on twitter @LeedsIGS and use #LinC

On this episode, Sarah Tulip (Director- EY and Inclusive Growth ambassador) is joined by Stuart Clarke (Founder- Paceline and Director of the Leeds Digital Festival) and Stuart Bullock (Managing Director- BJSS) to discuss the Leeds digital industry and the recent Digital Festival. This episode joins two recordings together to form one conversation. The first half was recorded during the Leeds Digital Festival 2020 and discusses the challenges and triumphs of the festival as it transformed into a virtual event during the pandemic. The second half was recorded before the lockdown took effect and focuses on the digital industry in Leeds and the various ways people network and develop across the city. To join in on the conversation, visit us on twitter @LeedsIGS and use #LinC

On this episode, Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer for Economic Development- Leeds City Council) is joined by Zandra Moore (CEO  Panintelligence) and Stuart Sherman (CEO- Scaled Insights). The discussion (recorded via Zoom) focuses on how Zandra and Stuart have adapted their businesses during the covid-19 pandemic and what the future looks like for their companies. They also discuss why Leeds is such a fantastic city for start-ups and entrepreneurs and they share their advice for anyone looking to start their own business during these difficult times. To join in on the conversation, visit us on twitter @LeedsIGS and use #LinC

Whilst we have had to re-schedule our planned episodes due to coronavirus, this special episode has been recorded online in response to the current situation. On this episode, Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer for Economic Development- Leeds City Council) is joined by Jonny Ross (Digital Strategist and Orator at Fleek Marketing) to answer some of the frequently asked questions we are receiving from businesses and individuals during these difficult times. To join in on the conversation, visit us on twitter @LeedsIGS and use #LinC *for all the latest and most up to date help and support for businesses and the self-employed in Leeds, please visit www.leeds.gov.uk/coronavirus/business as some of the information provided in this podcast may not be the most up to date at the time of you listening*

On this episode, Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer for Economic Development- Leeds City Council) is joined by Nigel Foster (Founder and Director- Fore Consulting and Inclusive Growth Strategy Ambassador) and Sophie Michelena (Development Manager- Locality and Inclusive Growth Strategy Ambassador). The discussion focuses around the Inclusive Growth Strategy Delivery Partnership- Place event which they attended in February covering one of the three main themes from the strategy. The conversation covers challenging topics such as transport and HS2, the growth of the city, community projects, public realm and green spaces. To join in on the conversation, visit us on twitter @LeedsIGS and

Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer for Economic Development- Leeds City Council) is joined by Craig Burton (Founder and Managing Director- the Works Recruitment) and Justine Andrew (Market Director- KPMG) to discuss what makes a great job? They debate various questions such as why paying the real living wage is important, what makes Leeds such a fantastic place to work, and what's changing in the employment landscape. Craig also tackles the subject of lifelong learning and development, as he plans to live until he's 104...! To join in the conversation, visit us on twitter @leedsIGS and use #LinC

In this first episode of the Leeds in Conversation series, Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer for Economic Development- Leeds City Council) and Tom Riordan (Chief Executive- Leeds City Council) discuss the challenges and opportunities of delivering on the inclusive growth agenda in Leeds and growing a city where our communities can truly feel the benefits.  They touch on various subjects including 100% digital, Channel 4's move to the North, transport, infrastructure and the prospect of Leeds United getting into the premiership!