The document discusses the growth of the UK's digital economy and its key drivers. It notes that Tech City UK was launched in 2010 to support digital entrepreneurship in London and UK cities. It outlines 6 key growth drivers powering the UK's digital economy: creative talent and expertise, investment capital, a strong business environment, infrastructure, a rich ecosystem, and location/culture. It provides statistics on digital employment and trends in areas like investment and acquisitions to argue that the UK is a leading digital economy.

1. European
Technology
Growth
Conference
AGC
Partners
May
2015
Keynote:
UK’s
Digital
Economy
and
its
drivers
Gerard
Grech
CEO
Tech
City
UK
@techcityuk
|
@gerardgrech

2. 2!Tech
City
UK
Who
are
we?
Launched
by
the
UK
Prime
Minister,
David
Cameron,
in
2010
to
support
digital
entrepreneurship
in
London.
Our
aim
is
to
help
create
the
optimum
set
of
conditions
for
entrepreneurs
in
London
&
cities
in
UK
by:
1. Delivering
programmes
that
fill
market
gaps
across
the
whole
lifecycle
of
digital
businesses
(e.g.
Digital
Business
Academy)
2. Providing
an
agile
and
responsive
feedback
loop
to
government
to
help
shape
the
right
policies
(e.g.
Visas)
3. Championing
and
connecting
the
digital
sector
in
the
UK
and
internationally
(e.g.
Tech
Nation)

3. 1.
Creative
talent
&
critical
mass
of
expertise
in
various
sectors
2.
Smart
capital
3.
Strong
business
&
policy
environment
4.
Connected
infrastructure
5.
Rich
ecosystem
&
connected
nation
6.
Unique
location
/
culture
/
language
6
key
growth
drivers
powering
UK’s
digital
economy

4. 21
clusters
identified
and
studied
!
!
companies
surveyed
nationwide
sectors
profiled
1.46m
employed
in
tech
across
the
UK
50%
of
digital
companies
founded
since
‘08
!
!
Big
Data
Analysis:
47K
>200K
employed
in
tech
across
Inner
London
London’s
notable
strenghts:
FinTech,
Data
Management
&
Analysis,
Marketplace,
E-­‐commerce,
Software
Development,
Creative
industries
(Eg.
music,
fashion)
2500+
Core
Research
Partners:
A
growing
Tech
Nation:
1.46M
in
digital
employment

5. Source:
Source:
Gov.UK,
Invest
in
the
UK,
2015
The
UK
is
a
magnet
for
talent

6. Source:
PWC,
Cities
of
Opportunity,
2015
London
tops
the
Cities
of
Opportunity
Index
–
for
technological
readiness,
economic
clout
and
overall
How
the
cities
rank
London
claims
#1
by
a
clear
margin,
with
New
York
and
Singapore
close
behind

7. Investment
in
London
tech
companies
in
2014
was
20x
what
it
was
in
2010
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Amount
Invested
(millions)
+$1.35bn
VC
investment
in
London
tech
companies
is
20x
what
it
was
in
2010
UK
companies
raised
30%
of
all
European
VC
money
in
Q4
‘14
Source:
CB
Insights/London
&
Partners,
2015

8. London
and
the
UK
perform
well
in
direct
investment

9. Digital
Infrastructure
is
the
lifeblood
of
digital
companies.
Superfast
BB
coverage
is
spreading
fast.
Source:
World
Economic
Forum
2014.
Global
InformaLon
Technology
Report
Source:
Gov.UK,
Invest
in
the
UK,
2015

10. 1
0!
Strong
Tech
friendly
business
&
policy
environment
20%
corporation
tax
(joint
lowest
in
the
G7)
Seed
Enterprise
Investment
Scheme
Progressive
regulatory
environment:
e.g.
first
to
see
crowd
lending
platforms
Tech-­‐friendly
Visas:
Entrepreneurs’
Visa,
Exceptional
Tech
Talent
Visa,
Investor
visa
R&D
Tax
Credits
&
Patent
Box
to
fuel
more
innovation

11. Rich
Ecosystem:
Key
HQs,
>50
tech
accelerators
&
>70
co-­‐working
spaces
and
several
support
orgs.

12. 1
2
Conditions
for
exit
are
also
ripe
>£1Bn
>£1Bn
>$1Bn

13. Latest
$1Bn
valued
UK
digital
businesses

14. 1
4
Recent
significant
UK
acquisitions
$675M
$527M

15. UK
is
full
of
great
digital
businesses,
growing
fast.
This
is
just
the
beginning.

16. Thank
you
for
your
time
@techcityuk
|
@gerardgrech
Gerard
Grech
CEO,
Tech
City
UK
Thank
you
for
your
time
Follow
us
or
visit
our
website
and
download
our
reports
or
join
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of
our
programmes
@techcityuk
|
techcityuk.com
Gerard
Grech
@gerardgrech
CEO,
Tech
City
UK