Plymouth listed in top ten locations for Tech Cluster growth in the UK
In a recent national report released by ‘Tech Nation’ Plymouth has been listed in the top ten growth tech cluster locations in the UK. Tech Nation 2017 has been described by Tech City UK as “the most comprehensive analysis of the UK Digital Tech Ecosystem to date reporting on the UKs digital landscape, providing an analysis of Britain’s thriving digital economy and clusters.”
Tech clusters occur in areas where there is a high concentration of digital businesses and tech start-ups. Plymouth’s digital sector is a growth industry and ranks as the eighth highest location for job growth in digital industries in the UK.
According to the report the “national turnover of digital tech businesses has reached £170 billion, an increase of £30billion in just five years, furthermore in 2016 regional clusters such as Plymouth attracted £4.5billion in digital tech investment, reflecting a network of innovative excellence across the nation”.
Plymouth based organisations such as Plymouth University, Tamar Science Park, Sponge UK, Formation Zone, IOTEC, MESH and THINQTANQ are a few of the businesses listed in the report as influential on the digital landscape of the city, attributing to its growth.
Local organisation Digital Plymouth, who recently received £10,000 funding from Plymouth City Council’s Social Enterprise Interest Fund, bring together Plymouth’s diverse and talented community of digital businesses and organisations sharing knowledge and learning about digital innovations happening in Plymouth. Meetups occur four times a year, including a full day conference celebrating what Plymouth’s digital industry has to offer. The funding will help them further develop and grow as an organisation and they hope to employ a part-time Managing Director.
Digital Plymouth Director Garry Hunt commented: “It’s fantastic to see the recognition of Plymouth in the Tech Nation 2017 report. We have known for a long time that Plymouth is a Tech Cluster and it is thanks to the work of the entire Digital Plymouth community that this has been recognised in this well regarded and respected publication. Plymouth and the South West offer a great quality of life and the support for start-up digital and tech businesses with an abundance of co-working space, peer to peer support and networking opportunities.”
Councillor Ian Bowyer, Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “The Tech Nation report highlights the growth of our digital sector in Plymouth, bringing more jobs and opportunities and it’s not just creatives and web designers and developers.Equally as a city we promote digital inclusion for our residents, offering superfast broadband and the largest free Wi-Fi network in the South West, ensuring as a city we stay connected
The City Council are determined to support the Digital Sector and will continue to promote business growth by means of it’s capital spending programme, even though this means some schemes which involve road improvements may involve temporary inconvenience. We have to have 21st century infrastructure to allow a 21st century economy to thrive and create high quality jobs and opportunities for Plymouth"
