Out-Law News 1 min. read
24 Mar 2017, 2:27 pm
In a new report, Tech City said the £6.8bn in investment was more than double the equivalent £2.4bn investment French technology businesses secured in 2016. Digital technology investment in Germany totalled £1.4bn last year, it said.
According to the report, the economic output from the UK's digital technology industry in 2015 grew by more than 10% in 2015 to £97bn.
The report also claimed that London was the foremost European centre for networking on digital technology matters, with 21,866 "meetups" recorded in 2016. In comparison there were 7,963 meetups in Berlin, 7,915 meetups in Amsterdam and 7,581 meetups in Paris, it said.
According to Tech City, there are 1.64 million digital technology jobs in the UK. People in such jobs each earn £50,663 on average a year, compared with the £35,155 average salary paid to those in non-digital jobs, it said.
The report, however, highlighted the challenge businesses find in recruiting people with digital skills. It also showed that women are much less likely to be employed in technology jobs than men.
"Just one in nine digital tech companies has a majority of women in their workforce," the report said. "In more than half (53%) of the organisations represented, men outnumber women by at least three to one."
Tech City called on businesses to "commit to diversity in the sector" and encouraged them to sign up to the UK government's Tech Talent Charter.
Technology businesses also difficulties accessing finance and adequate digital infrastructure, and are concerned about how Brexit might impact on their ability to recruit talented staff from overseas, it said.
"Tech is at a critical juncture and as we head into the future we must reassure founders, international talent, investors, and our home-grown digital work force that the UK is and will remain the best place to start and scale world-class digital businesses," said Tech City chair Eileen Burbidge and Tech City chief executive Gerard Grech in a joint foreword to the report.