UK becoming a tech nation led by London boom
Brits working in the digital and technology sectors now account for 7.5 per cent of the entire UK workforce, some 1.46m people. Tech is the country’s fastest-growing occupation category.
Of this growth, London’s tech cluster, which itself has seen an explosive 92 per cent growth in the number of new digital companies since 2010, is the driving force of an employment revolution, some analysts say.
“The digital sector is a national success story and London is a shining example of what we can achieve in Britain,” said Mayor of London Boris Johnson marking the launch of Tech Nation, the first comprehensive analysis of the UK’s digital tech clusters.
The report reveals Bristol and Bath to be the UK’s second largest tech cluster with over 61,000 digital workers, comparable in per-capita terms, to London’s 251,590 workers in the field.
“The combination of government support and a genuinely thriving entrepreneurial spirit has created a UK-wide success story of which we should be hugely proud of as a nation,” said Prime Minister David Cameron.
Techstars – the startup accelerator which expanded out of the US in 2012 to open its first programme in London – has seen growing numbers of teams from around the UK applying for a place on its City scheme.
“London by a very long mile represented the most interesting location for us. Outside of the US, it’s probably the fastest growing and most interesting tech ecosystem,” Techstars London managing director Jon Bradford told Morning Wire Now in its third year Techstars London counts three international startups, three from the UK’s regions and four which originated in London participating in its 13 week programme.
The Tech Nation report was created by the government-backed Tech City UK in collaboration with one of the City’s rising FinTech stars, DueDil.