Access to talent holding back North tech sector

Tech Nation 2016 found that despite the growth of employment and turnover in places like Leeds, Sheffield and Rotherham, the tech sector in the North is still lagging behind the South.

Government-backed Tech City UK’s report examined the impact of the tech sector on the country.

It profiled 27 key digital tech clusters across the UK, including Leeds, Hull, Sheffield and Rotherham, examining how their concentration of talent and networks are accelerating the growth of digital tech businesses.

Yorkshire cities were not mentioned in relation to the report’s top five leading indicators of cluster growth: business density, turnover total, turnover growth, total number of jobs and productivity (sales per worker), with Manchester, Birmingham, Southampton and Bristol all ranking higher.

Despite paying the 5th highest wages and recording the fastest growth in salaries in the sector, 60 per cent of Leeds digital businesses cite access to talent as a challenge to growth compared to 43 per cent nationally.

Richard Flint, chief executive of Sky Betting & Gaming, based in Leeds, said: “Despite our excellent universities and recording the fastest growth in digital wages, the majority of businesses in Leeds believe access to talent is the number one challenge to growth. We certainly agree with this. Having recruited 360 people in just nine months we still have around 125 digital job vacancies to fill and it’s becoming harder and harder to do so.

“This is much bigger issue for business in the North than it appears to be for companies elsewhere in the country and must be addressed if the Government’s Northern Powerhouse agenda is to be a success.”

The Leeds Digital Job Fair took place at First Direct Arena yesterday with 1,300 candidates attending the event. Amy DeBalsi, founder of jobs board Herd which organised the event, said: “The city’s digital and technology sector is growing remarkably fast and we can’t fill the vacancies at the pace they are currently being created. This is an opportunity that cannot be lost. It is essential that we keep the digital talent we have, rather than lose it to London as has been the case in the past.”