By Mya Driver, Marketing Executive, UKREiiF

Nestled in the heart of West Yorkshire, the city of Leeds has a rich array of history, culture, and innovation that often goes unnoticed. Beyond our bustling shopping districts and vibrant (and sometimes not so great) football scene lies a city with a remarkable legacy of pioneering achievements.

As the home of the first three UKREiiF events, we want to shed some light on Leeds’ contributions to the realms of technology, healthcare, media, sports, and even board games.

Digital Frontier: Leeds, the birthplace of Freeserve and EE’s legacy

Leeds has a claim to fame in the digital world, being the birthplace of Freeserve, the UK’s first internet service provider. In 1998, Freeserve revolutionised internet access for households across the nation by providing subscription-based internet connections instead of standard telephone line charges, which made it more appealing and affordable to the masses, therefore paving the way for a more inclusive service and allowing more people to connect to the World Wide Web. Fast forward to today, and the baton has been passed to EE!

Cinematic Roots: Leeds’ Role in the Birth of Films

Long before Leeds became a hub for media giants like ITV and Channel 4, it played a pivotal role in the birth of cinema! The city was home to the first-ever films made in the UK. Louis Le Prince came to Leeds from Frame in 1866 and worked at a local brass foundry. After a trip to New York, Louis began to create a multi-lens apparatus that could produce animated photographic pictures. Louis then brought his ‘camera’ back to Leeds and shot The Roundhay Garden Scene in 1888 on the grounds of Roundhay Cottage.

Healthcare Innovations: The Leeds Innovation Arc and more

Leeds isn’t just a city of technological and creative prowess; it has also been at the forefront of healthcare innovation. At the heart of the new Leeds Innovation Arc, a collection of four neighbourhoods formed around the natural anchors of Leeds’ main universities, hospitals, and major private sector partners, which will stitch together these communities with better transport links, green spaces, and new homes, will host a brand-new group of adult and child hospitals, which has the predicted economic benefit of £13 billion and will provide around 4000 jobs.

While on the subject of healthcare innovations in Leeds, we must mention the medical wins of the city…

  1. The Pericardial Heart Valve was invented by Marian Ionescu, a British surgeon working at the Leeds General Infirmary (LGI). This contribution to medicine has changed the course of cardiac surgery over the last half century and has benefited millions of patients worldwide!
  2. In 2016, a team at the LGI, led by Professor Simon Kay, successfully undertook the UK’s first double hand transplant.
  3. At the LGI, Frank Parsons performed the first kidney dialysis in 1956, marking the opening of the first artificial kidney unit in the UK.
  4. Williams Henry Bragg and his son, William Lawrence Bragg, discovered the structure of crystals using x-ray technology at the University of Leeds. This helped pave the way for all kinds of new discoveries in the years to come, including work on the structure of DNA!
  5. The largest cancer centre in Europe, St. James’s Institute of Oncology, opened in Leeds in 2007.

Engineering Luminary: John Smeaton’s Leeds Legacy

Leeds proudly claims John Smeaton, the father of civil engineering, as one of our own. Smeaton was responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours, and lighthouses, making his contributions to engineering the foundation for modern civil engineering practices.

Football Fashion: Leeds United FC’s Fashion Forward Move

In 1975, Leeds United FC made football history by becoming the first club to copyright their shirts. Before then, kit designs were not copyrighted, meaning you could buy shirts with two teams represented on them. Leeds United FC’s worked with Admiral on selling replica kits to the general public, proving a huge success and thus kickstarting the replica-kit market.

Board Game Origins: Leeds’ Role in Monopoly and Cluedo

Leeds has even left its mark on classic board games. The UK edition of Monopoly, a game that needs no introduction, has Leeds roots. Leeds-based, family-run printing company Waddingtons won the UK rights to the game in 1935, then created the UK edition of Monopoly, the difference being the streets are named after streets in London, after Waddingtons were inspired by a trip to the capital.

In 1944, Waddingtons was presented with the first ideas for the game Cluedo, which they would later develop and print.

In 1994, Waddingtons was bought by gaming and toy giant Hasbro, leaving the printing factory in Leeds unoccupied. The factory stood on Camp Road, which has now been renamed Lovell Park Road, which now houses Leeds’ First Direct Arena, student accommodation for Leeds universities, and also some of our private sector partner offices, such as Gleeds and Lloyds Bank.

Leeds, often overshadowed by its larger counterparts, is a city brimming with a diverse legacy of innovation and creativity. From shaping the digital landscape to pioneering breakthroughs in healthcare, Leeds continues to make waves in various fields.

We’re looking forward to welcoming you to our city in May 2024! As you traverse its streets and explore its history, remember that there’s more to Leeds than meets the eye—a city that has not only embraced its past but is actively shaping its future.

By Mya Driver, Marketing Executive, UKREiiF