Croydon
Shoreditch is synonymous with London’s tech scene; now it’s Croydon’s turn to get in on the action. It’s currently the capital’s fastest-growing tech ecosystem, thanks to its affordable office space and proximity to Gatwick airport. More than 1,000 early-stage digital, technical and creative startups have now made their home here.
Bristol/Bath
Numbers from February 2015 revealed 61,653 people were employed in digital jobs across Bristol and Bath, the second-highest cluster in the UK after London. With its own Science Park, the area is notable for the robotics, healthcare and EdTech sectors.
Sheffield
Once home to the steel industry, Sheffield is witnessing a new industrial boom. In March, 21,000 people were employed in the city’s buoyant digital sector, fuelled by graduates from local universities. The areas of computer science, artificial intelligence and machine-to-machine communications are thriving.
Bournemouth
Brighton is often associated with digital ingenuity, but further along the south coast there’s a rival “Silicon Beach”. With a cluster of app developers, e-commerce and games startups, along with digital marketing and advertising companies, Bournemouth is one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech hubs.
Hull
There are more than 12,000 people employed in digital-based roles in this northern city, with big companies such as PwC, Ebuyer and Amazon Web Services all lending their support. The recent launch of Tech North is helping to galvanise the burgeoning tech clusters taking root in the area.
Source: Tech Nation Report 2015
