Bristol’s burgeoning digital sector has helped the West of England become the UK’s most productive tech cluster with an impressive growth rate, according to a new analysis of the country’s digital tech economy.
The Tech Nation 2016 report, which highlights the strength of the sector to the UK economy, places the Bristol/Bath area top of the nationwide league table for productivity, based on sales per worker.
The area, home to a number of global tech players as well as a raft of smaller firms, produces £296,340 for each person employed in the sector – more than £90, 000 more than second-place London, according to the report. 
In a region-by-region overview of the sector, the report highlights Bristol and Bath’s growth – with a 53% increase in turnover that it describes as “impressive” – and a reference to its recognition by last year’s Centre for Cities and McKinsey & Company report naming it as one of the UK’s two globally significant digital tech clusters and more than 60,000 digital workers in the wider region.
The report says: “With a history in aerospace and digital software, the cluster’s specialisms now include telecommunications & networking, gaming, virtual reality, and cloud computing. Aardman, JUST EAT, IMDb, Oracle, IBM, Sony and Hewlett Packard have all been attracted by the strong digital ecosystem.
“Local networks TechSPARK and High Tech Bristol & Bath are thriving; 81% of local business owners stated collaboration as a benefit, while 5,000 people regularly attend tech Meetups in the area – the third most in the UK.”
It highlights innovation hubs such as the Bristol Games Hub, Engine Shed and Bristol & Bath Science Park as supporting the growth of digital tech businesses and pointed out that Bath & Bristol’s SETsquared programmes generated more than£48m of investment last year – earning them the title of the world’s best university incubator by UBI Global.
Inward investment agency Invest Bristol & Bath hi-tech sector specialist Rick Chapman said: “The Tech Nation 2016 report paints a compelling picture about the strength of the UK’s digital tech economy with the Bristol & Bath region right at the heart of its success.
“With productivity in the digital tech economy outperforming other parts of the economy and our region coming out as the most productive, it’s evident that companies in Bristol & Bath are playing a leading role in driving the success of this sector in the UK.”
Rick, who is also entrepreneur-in-residence at SETsquared’s Bristol hub, said one of the key reasons for this was that the technologies created in Bristol & Bath had a multitude of applications that span a wide range of industries.
“Our region’s companies are therefore having a ripple effect that is having a dramatic impact on both digital and non-digital industries,” he added.
“With particular strengths in cloud infrastructure, data management, robotics, gaming and virtual reality, this report gives weight to our growing reputation as a real powerhouse of the regional and national economy.”
The report was welcomed by West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) chief executive Barbara Davies.
She said: “The Tech Nation report shows how digital technology has become absolutely central to the West of England’s economy. These are high-value jobs that are making a major contribution to the region’s prosperity.
“As the cluster continues to grow, it is attracting major national and international players who are offering new opportunities to the people that live here as well as supporting the expansion of home-grown companies.
“It’s clear from the report that our ability to offer companies new opportunities through providing much needed infrastructure which supports the eco-system is something that is really valued by our digital tech companies.
“We are continuing to build on this with new initiatives including the Bristol is Open expansion of the open programmable city region project; extending superfast broadband across the region; transport investment in a £200m 50km rapid MetroBus network, and a £100m rail improvement programme that links with the electrification of the main rail line to London.”
Jeremy Richards, head of international property agents JLL’s Bristol office, said: “As digital technology continues to play a major role in the regional economy, the demand for space from this sector continues to dominate the commercial property scene as well.
“Demand from businesses in the technology, media and telecommunications sector accounted for around 25% of office space taken up in 2015 and we will see a similar story over the course of the next 12 months.
“The report shows that creating collaborative spaces is something which the region does really well and companies value this too, so there is a big opportunity for Bristol & Bath to capitalise on this with the development of more tech-style hubs which support and grow this nationally important cluster.”
The Tech Nation 2016 report was produced by Tech City UK and innovation charity Nesta, supported by core data partner GrowthIntel.
Click here to read the full report.
