Bournemouth and Liverpool drive tech cluster growth beyond London's Tech City

Technology clusters in Bournemouth and Liverpool are driving growth in the UK's digital sector, indicating that London's Tech City is not the only bastion of Britain's technology start-up industry.

Tech City's Tech Nation report (PDF) revealed that 74 percent of the UK's 47,082 digital companies operate outside London, and that Bournemouth, Liverpool and Brighton are some of the fastest growing clusters beyond the capital.

Bournemouth's cluster has grown by 212 percent since 2010, while Liverpool has seen growth of 119 percent and Brighton 91 percent.

London's tech cluster also saw healthy growth of 92 percent, but is no longer the growth leader in the UK.

The Tech Nation report dug into 2,000 digital companies across the UK, including those based in remote areas such as Anglesey and the Shetland Islands.

The report noted growth across all of the UK's clusters, although the rate varied significantly between regions.

Newer clusters, such as those in South Wales and Greater Manchester, enjoyed healthy growth of 87 percent and 70 percent respectively. More established clusters, like Reading and Glasgow, saw small growth of five and three percent.

Overall, 90 percent of the companies surveyed are expecting revenue to grow next year.

Tech Nation also revealed that the rise of the UK's tech clusters has provided 1.46 million jobs across the country.

The London cluster employs the most at 251,590 people, unsurprising given the size of the capital, and the cluster in Bristol and Bath comes a distant second with 61,653 people.

The report indicated that 62 percent of the 45,000 digital jobs being currently advertised in Britain are outside London.

Prime minister David Cameron welcomed the findings, and reiterated the government's support for the UK's technology industry.

"The digital economy has become an integral part of our country and the rapid growth of many digital businesses has confirmed Britain's position as a global hub of technology excellence," he said.

"We are committed to supporting the growth of our digital industry nationwide. The government will do all it can to ensure digital growth for years to come."

The government could deliver support by improving access to finance and talent, which Tech Nation said are the two principal requirements of the UK technology industry's sub-sectors such as financial technology, health technology and e-commerce.

The recent opening of the Digital Catapult centres aims to help digital start-ups get up and running and create a better environment in which small technology companies can thrive.

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• Topics
• Small Business
• Government
• Tech City
• Digital Britain
• Start-up
• London