Talk:Leicester

Semi-protected edit request on 11 April 2025

Please add the British English pronunciation /ˈlɛstə/ in addition to the American English pronunciation /ˈlɛstər/ Tambala-Tambala (talk) 19:58, 11 April 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: The existing pronunciation guide has been in the article for at least ten years, which is only how far back I searched. I would want either a reliable source or more than just one person's objection to change an existing consensus like that. DrOrinScrivello (talk) 19:55, 20 May 2025 (UTC)

I support changing this pronunciation to remove the rhotic R which isnt a feature of Leicester English. However it looks like the r is in the pronunciation guide of most English cities (in places where it wouldnt usually be pronounced) so this would probably need doing for multiple articles. Eopsid (talk) 11:41, 11 February 2026 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 22 December 2025

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Please change the entire lead section (from the start of the article down to the “Etymology” heading) to the following updated and fully sourced version:

"Leicester is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire, England. It lies on the River Soar and the edge of the National Forest, around 90 miles (140 km) north-west of London. With a population of about 368,000 and an urban area approaching 560,000, it is the largest city in the East Midlands and one of the most populous in the United Kingdom.

The city has a long history of continuous settlement, beginning as the Roman town of Ratae Corieltavorum. It later grew as a significant borough in the Danelaw and an important medieval commercial centre. Leicester retains notable historic sites including the Jewry Wall, the Guildhall, and Leicester Cathedral, where King Richard III was reinterred following the discovery of his remains in 2012.

Leicester is recognised for its diverse population, shaped by significant post-war migration from the Caribbean, South Asia and East Africa. The city’s Cultural Quarter contains major arts institutions such as Curve Theatre, one of the largest producing theatres in the region, and Phoenix cinema and art centre. Leicester hosts a wide range of festivals including Diwali, Caribbean Carnival and Pride, reflecting its broad cultural and artistic life.

The city has a strong sporting profile. Leicester City F.C. won the Premier League in 2016 in one of the most notable achievements in modern British football. Leicester Tigers are among the most successful rugby union clubs in England, Leicester Riders are Britain’s oldest professional basketball team and frequent national champions, and Leicestershire County Cricket Club have won multiple domestic titles. Leicester is also home to professional speedway and athletics facilities.

Economically, Leicester forms the core of one of the strongest and fastest-growing city economies in the East Midlands. In recent national assessments it has been ranked the best city in the region to live and work, performing strongly in the PwC Good Growth for Cities Index on measures including employment, income distribution, work–life balance and transport. Leicester has also featured in independent rankings of the top 100 cities in Europe for liveability and economic potential, where it placed highest among East Midlands cities and second highest in the Midlands, behind Birmingham. These indicators reflect the city’s growing regional and international profile."

~2025-42356-65 (talk)

}} ~2025-42356-65 (talk) 07:37, 22 December 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: AI-generated edit request. Day Creature (talk) 18:23, 22 December 2025 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 22 December 2025 (2)

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The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

Request to update outdated Economy section

Please change the entire current “Economy” section of the Leicester article (text reproduced below) to the updated version further down, which provides more recent information, corrects outdated claims, adds proper sourcing, and reflects current economic data from ONS, PwC, and regional strategic organisations.

Current text: Leicester has the second largest economy in the East Midlands, after Nottingham.[112] Companies that have their principal offices or significant sites in Leicester and the surrounding area include; Brantano Footwear, Dunelm Mill, Next, Shoe Zone, Everards brewing and associated businesses, KPMG, Mazars, Cambridge & Counties Bank, HSBC and Santander banking, Hastings Insurance, British Gas, British Telecom, Caterpillar (Inc.), Topps Tiles and DHL.[113] Good Growth for Cities Index The city of Leicester is regularly rated as the best place to live and work in the East Midlands. The Good Growth for Cities Index is an annual study which ranks UK cities based on a range of economic factors. In 2022, the Index placed Leicester 14th out of 50 UK cities and the best performing city in the East Midlands.[114] In 2023, the index ranked Leicester first of seven East Midlands cities, and 16th overall across the country.[115] In 2024, the Good Growth for Cities Index again rated Leicester as the best performing city in the East Midlands, and 20th overall out of 52 other UK cities.[9] Textiles The city has historically had a strong association with the production of textiles, clothing and footwear. While important companies such as Corah, Liberty Shoes and Equity Shoes have closed, companies such as Next and Boden are still active and ASOS and New Look manufacture in the city. Moreover, in recent years the higher transport prices and longer lead-times associated with globalised production in Asia has led some textile manufacturers to locate to the city.[116][117] There have long been concerns about the working conditions in this sector. Leicester's garment district is home to more than 1,000 factories employing as many as 10,000 workers. It has received fewer than 60 health and safety inspections and only 28 fire inspections since October 2017. HMRC has made just 36 visits checking on compliance with minimum wage legislation; it has issued penalties to fewer than 10 textile firms and claimed just over £100,000 in arrears relating to 143 workers.[118] Research at the University of Leicester in 2010 and published in 2015 found there were 11,700 employees in the East Midlands garment industry. 75-90% of them were being paid £3 per hour, which was less than half of the then legal minimum wage.[119] In 2017 Peter Soulsby, Mayor of Leicester called together 40 regulatory organisations to coordinate a response. He aimed to make sure that Leicester had the highest standards of employment; that workers are properly paid, well trained and work in safe environments,[120] In 2020 the HSE was alerted to COVID-19 non-compliance, made inspections and gave advice.[121] Engineering Learn more This section does not cite any sources. (December 2024) Engineering companies include Jones & Shipman (machine tools and control systems), Richards Engineering (foundry equipment), Transmon Engineering (materials handling equipment) and Trelleborg (suspension components for rail, marine, and industrial applications). Local commitment to nurturing British engineers includes apprenticeship schemes with local companies, and academic-industrial connections with the engineering departments at Leicester University, De Montfort University, and nearby Loughborough University. Leicester was also home to the famous Gents' of Leicester clock manufacturers. Shopping  Main city centre shopping area The city centre has two large shopping malls – Highcross Leicester and the Haymarket Shopping Centre. The Haymarket Shopping Centre opened in 1974 and has two levels of shopping, multi-storey parking for up to 500 cars, a bus station and is home to the Haymarket Theatre. Highcross Leicester opened in 2008 after work to redevelop "The Shires Centre" was completed at a cost of £350 million (creating 120 stores, 15 restaurants, a cinema, 110,000 m2 of shopping space). St Martin's Square and the Leicester Lanes area has numerous designer and specialist shops; several of the city's Victorian arcades are located in the same neighbourhood. Leicester Market is the largest outdoor covered market in Europe.[122] It central feature, the Leicester Corn Exchange, has been converted into a public house.[123] Central Leicester is the location for several department stores including John Lewis, Debenhams. The Golden Mile is the name given to a stretch of Belgrave Road renowned for its authentic Indian restaurants, sari shops, and jewellers; the Diwalicelebrations in Leicester are focused on this area and are the largest outside the sub-continent.[124] Food and drink  Leicester Market Henry Walker was a successful pork butcher who moved from Mansfield to Leicester in the 1880s to take over an established business in High Street. The first Walker's crisp production line was in the empty upper storey of Walker's Oxford Street factory in Leicester. In the early days the potatoes were sliced by hand and cooked in an ordinary deep fryer. In 1971 the Walker's crisps business was sold to Standard Brands, an American firm, who sold on the company to Frito-Lay. Walker's crisps makes 10 million bags of crisps per day at two factories in Beaumont Leys, and is the UK's largest grocery brand.[125] The Beaumont Leys manufacturing plant is world's largest crisp factory.[126] Meanwhile, the sausage and pie business was bought out by Samworth Brothers in 1986. Production outgrew the Cobden Street site and pork pies are now manufactured at a meat processing factory and bakery in Beaumont Leys, coincidentally near to the separately owned crisp factories. Sold under the Walker's name and under UK retailers own brands such as Tesco,[127]over three million hot and cold pies are made each week.[128] Henry Walker's butcher shop at 4–6 Cheapside sold Walker's sausages and pork pies until March 2012 when owner Scottish Fife Fine Foods ceased trading, although the shop was temporarily open and selling Walker's pies for the Christmas season of 2012.[129]

Replace it with the following updated version: == Economy == Leicester is one of the major urban economies of the East Midlands, with a large and diverse commercial base spanning retail, textiles, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, food production, finance, digital industries and education. The city has high business density, a strong entrepreneurial profile and significant employment supported by its universities and central location within the national transport network.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leicester and Leicestershire Business Landscape |url=https://llbsp.org.uk/our-economy/ |publisher=Leicester and Leicestershire Business Strategy Partnership |access-date=2025-01-12}}</ref> Leicester is one of the region’s principal commercial centres and performs strongly across broader economic indicators, particularly in business formation, employment, and work–life balance. === Good Growth for Cities Index === Leicester consistently ranks as the best-performing city in the East Midlands in the annual PwC Good Growth for Cities Index, which assesses UK cities on a range of indicators including employment, income distribution, transport, health, housing affordability, new business creation and work–life balance. In 2022 Leicester placed 14th out of 50 UK cities and highest in the East Midlands;<ref>{{cite web |title=Good Growth for Cities 2022 |url=https://www.pwc.co.uk/issues/economy/global-economy/good-growth/what-is-good-growth.html |publisher=PwC |access-date=2025-01-12}}</ref> in 2023 it ranked first of seven East Midlands cities and 16th overall;<ref>{{cite news |title=Leicester ranks top city in East Midlands in Good Growth Index |url=https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/news/2023/leicester-ranked-best-city.aspx |publisher=De Montfort University |access-date=2025-01-12}}</ref> and in 2024 Leicester again placed highest in the region and 20th out of 52 UK cities.<ref>{{cite news |title=Leicester ranked best city in East Midlands to live and work |url=https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/news/2024/september/leicester-ranked-as-best-city-in-the-east-midlands-to-live-and-work.aspx |publisher=De Montfort University |date=2024-09 |access-date=2025-01-12}}</ref> === Space science and technology === Leicester is a national centre for space science and satellite technology. Space Park Leicester, a £100 million research and innovation campus led by the University of Leicester, hosts organisations including Airbus, Rolls-Royce space partners, Earth observation specialists, start-ups, and the National Centre for Earth Observation. The facility forms part of the wider Midlands space cluster and supports regional growth in high-technology sectors.<ref>{{cite web |title=Space Park Leicester |url=https://www.space-park.co.uk/ |publisher=University of Leicester |access-date=2025-01-12}}</ref> === Textiles === Leicester has a long association with the production of textiles, clothing and footwear. While several historic manufacturers have closed, companies such as Next and Boden remain active, and ASOS and New Look use the city for UK-based production and distribution.<ref>{{cite news |title=Leicester textiles revival |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33706088 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=2025-01-12}}</ref> Rising transport costs and demand for shorter supply chains have contributed to the partial reshoring of textile production to the area.<ref>{{cite report |title=UK Fashion and Textile Reshoring Report |publisher=UK Fashion & Textile Association |year=2022 |url=https://ukft.org/reshoring |access-date=2025-01-12}}</ref> Concerns regarding working conditions in the city’s garment sector have been documented in several reports, highlighting issues relating to underpayment, health and safety compliance and factory oversight.<ref>{{cite news |title=Leicester garment factories: Undercover report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/05/leicester-garment-factories-investigation |publisher=The Guardian |date=2020-07-05 |access-date=2025-01-12}}</ref> Local authorities and regulators have introduced initiatives to improve conditions and strengthen enforcement across the sector.<ref>{{cite news |title=Leicester moves to reform garment sector |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-53720215 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=2025-01-12}}</ref> === Engineering === Leicester has an established engineering and advanced manufacturing base. Companies with operations in or around the city include Jones & Shipman, Richards Engineering, Trelleborg and Transmon Engineering. Local engineering employers collaborate with the University of Leicester, De Montfort University and Loughborough University to provide apprenticeships, research partnerships and skills programmes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Engineering in Leicestershire |url=https://www.llep.org.uk/sector-information/ |publisher=Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership |access-date=2025-01-12}}</ref> === Major employers === Significant employers in Leicester and the surrounding area include: * University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (healthcare) * University of Leicester (education) * De Montfort University (education) * Next (retail headquarters) * Dunelm (retail) * Samworth Brothers (food manufacturing) * Everards (brewing and hospitality) * Santander UK (banking) * Cambridge & Counties Bank (finance) * Hastings Direct (insurance) * Caterpillar Inc. (manufacturing) * DHL (logistics) * Space Park Leicester partners including Airbus and NCEO (space technology) * Trelleborg (engineering)

The existing section contains outdated 2019 economic claims, an unsourced engineering subsection, and a list of companies that is incomplete or no longer current. The updated version follows Wikipedia’s neutral tone and structure guidelines, uses modern and verifiable sources, and accurately reflects Leicester’s current economic performance and sectoral profile. ~2025-42313-01 (talk) 08:25, 22 December 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: AI-generated edit request.

Cathedral city again

I dont want to start an edit war but I made a change to the section that said "In 1927, Leicester became a cathedral city again" to remove the word again, which was reverted. There is no mention earlier in the article of an older Leicester Cathedral. There is mention of it it being a bishopric but no mention of what or where Leicester's "original" cathedral used to be. I'll try and find any information I can on this and update the article accordingly but if I can't I will remove the word again (again). Eopsid (talk) 16:33, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

All bishops have a "cathedra" , which means the bishops seat or throne. A cathedra is in a cathedral. Its what makes a church a cathedral. Im guessing this was the same in pre-Northern Conquest times as it is now and there must have been a cathedral then. I don't have the book so I cann't give you a reference, but WG Hoskins in the Leicestershire volume of "the Making of the English landscape says that St Nicholas Church (not necessarily the same building as the present church) was the Cathedral of the Anglo Saxon bishops. Nickaus .Pevsner says that it"might have been the cathedral" See his Buildings of England :Leicestershire and Rutland 2nd (1984 ) edition at page 215.. I've not seen a better idea in printSpinney Hill (talk) 22:38, 12 February 2026 (UTC)