Bristol named as one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech cities

Job opportunities and innovative startups have helped secure Bristol a reputation as one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech cities.

Tech firms in the city raised a collective £111m in venture capital (VC) funding in 2021 in what has been a record year for the sector in Britain, with £26bn raised in total nationwide.

Bristol has been ranked fifth on the ‘New Levelling Up Tech Power League’ of fast-growing tech cities following analysis completed for the UK’s Digital Economy Council by Dealroom and job search engine Adzuna, behind Cambridge, Manchester, Oxford and Edinburgh.

The city is home to three unicorns – startups worth more than $1bn – with zero carbon air travel startup Vertical Aerospace joining Graphcore and OVO Energy in the exclusive club earlier this year.

The study highlighted a further three tech companies expected to reach this valuation in the next few years, with e-commerce fulfilment service Huboo, 3D printing company Open Bionics and advanced haptics company Ultraleap all named as potential ‘futurecorns’.

Commenting on the research, Nigel Toon, co-founder and CEO at Graphcore, which is based on Wine Street: “There is no longer any debate over whether you can build a multi-billion dollar tech business in the UK.

“The investments made over the past few years into startups and scaleups across the country are producing outstanding results and I look forward to seeing how ecosystems like Bristol’s grow and thrive over many years to come.”

Bristol has some of the highest numbers of tech job opportunities outside of London, according to the findings, with some 3,263 existing roles – an increase of 57.6 per cent – with an average advertised salary of £50,404.

UK tech investment made up 35 per cent of the total £76bn that flowed into the European tech ecosystem this year. With more money than ever flowing into the sector, regional cities are taking a bigger slice of the pie.

Of all jobs ads in the IT sector, 21.6 per cent are advertised as remote, which analysis suggests is also contributing to the spread of the UK tech ecosystem beyond London.

Commenting on the figures for the last year, digital minister Chris Philp said: “It’s been another record-breaking year for UK tech with innovative British startups helping solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.

“Capitalising on this fantastic investment across the country is a crucial part of our mission to level up, so we are supporting businesses with pro-innovation policies and helping people to get the skills they need to thrive in this dynamic industry.”

Yoram Wijngaarde, founder and CEO at Dealroom, added: “The UK tech ecosystem has exploded in the past year, with an increasing number of mega rounds minting new unicorns and futurecorns every day.

“This is significant because we know from research that employees at $1b+ companies often go on to found their own startups, some of which become unicorns themselves, which helps to shore up the ecosystem and lead to a new generation of global companies.”

Main photo of Ultraleap’s touchless tech, courtesy of Ultraleap

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