Record job creation sees Greater Manchester named second leading tech city outside London

Greater Manchester has been named the UK’s second leading tech city outside London according to analysis for the Digital Economy Council, thanks to record levels of job creation and high levels of outside investment.

The city-region was beaten only by Cambridge in the analysis, conducted by Dealroom and job search engine Adzuna, thanks to strong levels of investment and tech vacancies increasing by 164.6% during 2021 in Greater Manchester. The government has used the results to compile a Levelling-up Power Tech League, to promote the UK’s regional cities that are key centres for innovation in the UK.

In addition to job growth, the UK’s tech sector saw investment in the industry grow to £29.4 billion, with £9 billion coming from venture capital investment outside of London and the South East. American investors made up over a third (37%) of all investment in UK tech companies.

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.”

Andrew Hunter, co-founder at Adzuna, said:

“The growth of tech companies across the UK has led to a surge in hiring across the country. The number of IT job openings is higher than its ever been and is consistently growing week on week. In particular, it’s great to see strong hiring in cities like Manchester and Birmingham which are showcasing some of the highest figures outside of London. The struggle for businesses across the country is having enough skilled staff to fill these positions to allow them to keep growing.”

Matthew Scullion, CEO of Manchester-based ‘unicorn’ tech firm Matillion, said:

“These figures are evidence that high-growth start-ups are thriving all across the UK, and it’s no surprise to see Matillion’s home of Manchester appearing so highly. While the city has not always had the playbooks, flow of capital, or awareness that we can build unicorns, the data shows that’s changing and doing so rapidly.

“We’re very proud to have played our part in this upwards trajectory, as the region’s most recent (and only enterprise software) unicorn, and we hope we can play our part in making the flywheel spin even faster in over the coming years.”

The analysis by Dealroom and Adzuna corroborates a report from the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership earlier this year that highlighted the strengths of the city-region’s tech sector, in particular, its world-beating e-commerce industry.