CEOs in Bradford are among the best in the UK, according to new research.

The city ranked in seventh place in Vestd’s CEO Approval Index – analysis of CEOs from businesses across 25 of the UK’s biggest towns and cities.

The Index lists business leaders by average ‘CEO approval’ ratings and ‘recommend to a friend’ scores on Glassdoor, as well as the median employee tenure on LinkedIn.

CEOs in Bradford ranked highly for employee approval, with an average rating of 74%, and 65% of staff would recommend their current employer to a friend.

On average, staff in Bradford have spent 5.4 years with their current employer – among the highest retention levels of the top-performing towns and cities.

London scooped top spot overall, with its business leaders averaging a ‘CEO approval rating’ of 80% on Glassdoor, as well as an average 74% ‘recommend to a friend’ score.

The capital also scored highly for employee retention, with an average median tenure of 5.7 years.

Other towns and cities at the top of the table include Northampton, Belfast and Reading.

Top 10 UK cities with the highest-rated CEOs

City	Average CEO approval rating (% based on Glassdoor)	Average recommend to a friend score (% based on Glassdoor)	Average median employee tenure (in years, based on LinkedIn)	Overall CEO score
London	80%	74%	5.7	280.8
Northampton	83%	73%	5.1	248.3
Belfast	82%	72%	5.1	235.0
Hull	83%	71%	4.4	192.4
Reading	73%	65%	5.7	187.3
Leeds	76%	69%	4.9	186.9
Bradford	74%	65%	5.4	176.0
Plymouth	77%	64%	5.1	167.4
Brighton	76%	75%	4.0	167.3
Luton	74%	61%	5.5	159.8

Explaining the findings, Ifty Nasir, CEO of Vestd, said: “London remains one of the biggest business hubs in the world, so it’s perhaps not surprising that the UK’s best CEOs are based in the capital.

“Despite this, it’s great to see business leaders in other cities like Bradford giving the capital a run for its money. The evidence shows that CEOs in Bradford are doing a great job of engaging their staff and the high level of employee retention is testament to their leadership.

“Bradford has a proud manufacturing history and, while challenges like productivity and skills shortages pose risks for businesses across the UK, our research shows that CEOs in the city are in a great position to make the most of opportunities over the coming years.”

Ifty added: “Being a CEO is not an easy task and the role varies across sectors and individual businesses.

“There are, however, some skills which are shared by most successful leaders. While the CEO is often the figurehead, and influences how the company is run, their employees are absolutely critical to the growth and success of the business.

“The ability to win the hearts and minds of staff is a vital trait for all CEOs – you only need to look at some high-profile examples to see the impact that losing the approval of your key people can have – and a strong leader is likely to mean that employees stay around for longer.

For more information about Vestd, visit www.vestd.com/the-ceo-approval-index-2023