Last Five Years Been Good For UK Tech Sector, Says KPMG

The number of tech-related enterprises in the UK private sector has risen by 31 per cent since 2010, according to the latest KPMG/Markit Tech Monitor UK Survey. This represents a net gain of approximately 45,000 enterprises over a five-year period, or one additional tech sector enterprise every hour of the day for the past five years.

The growth of enterprises in the industry is double that of all private sector enterprises over the same period (16 per cent).

Reading has taken the top spot of all tech clusters in the UK, as more than one in five enterprises in the area are tech sector firms (22 per cent), a proportion significantly higher than the national average (eight per cent).

The top clusters in 2015 are shown below:

The M4 corridor hosts three of the top five tech clusters in the country, however the Tech Monitor UK Survey reveals that regions across the UK are generating growth through the tech sector. Clusters in the UK are also moving increasingly towards specialisation in a particular sub sector of technology.

South Cambridgeshire has become a world renowned biotech centre. Nuneaton & Bedworth dominates the field of automotive-related tech. A cluster of businesses in Woking specialises in air / spacecraft machinery tech. And the City of London continues to house a successful fintech community.

The fastest increases in tech sector enterprises over the last year are:

Tudor Aw, partner and head of KPMG’s Technology sector said that the growth should not be taken for granted, and that the tech sector should be prioritised by both national and local governments.

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