Those of us in the Bath / Bristol area know it’s a great place to live and work – so it’s always pleasing to see our views backed up by sound research.
It’s been awhile now since we posted a blog about the Bath and Bristol area being the fastest growing tech sector in the UK – and having seen the recent analysis in Tech Nation 2017, we thought it timely to write about how all things tech are currently doing down here in the West Country.
Tech Nation 2017’s mission is to provide ‘a data-rich analysis of Britain’s thriving digital economy’ and they highlight how the UK’s ‘is growing twice as fast as the wider economy, with an economic output of close to £100 billion per year’.
In the Bath and Bristol area we have an impressive mix of global businesses (many have set up their European HQ’s in Bristol) and startups. Our strengths lie in areas such as aerospace and robotics. Great local support is available for developing digital skills, provision of working spaces and access to funding – with our four universities (Bristol, UWE, Bath and Bath Spa), work spaces such as The Engine Shed and crowd funding with the likes of Crowd10 or the University of Bristol’s seed fund, UOBEF.
While we recommend checking out the report to find out about our local notable startups, companies and economic statistics – here are some facts we thought we’d point out:
In the Tech Nation 2017 analysis we came out top for tech worker productivity for the second year in a row, our total digital turnover was £8.1 billion and we were commended as having the best digital meetups in the country such as TechSpark, High Tech Bristol & Bath and VentureFest.
The report also revealed that 92% of tech workers here rated their quality of life as good, in comparison with just 59% of Londoners.
We must try not to gloat to our friends in the capital…
