Tech sector's big names are choosing to invest in North East

WITH the world opening up a little more each month, it feels as though 2022 is going to be a good year for business growth and job creation in North East England.

2021 saw a number of global brands expanding into the region, with Just Eat, Amazon, Xplor, and Thoughtworks to name a few – all attracted to the region for our people, property options and work/life balance. And 2022 has already started with a bang - global cybersecurity company, Artic Wolf announced their European HQ would be in Newcastle and IT service provider, Version 1 have expanded into the city.

Cyber Security

Artic Wolf will join the growing cyber cluster within the North East, which is supported by cluster organisation, Dynamo North East, who deliver annual events such as CyberFest, as well as hosting meet-ups, proving collaboration opportunities, and supporting skills initiatives.

With the increasing need for secure networks, websites and data handling, investment in cyber firms continues to grow and the North East is well placed to support that growth. For example, our National Innovation Centre for Data (NICD) aims to transfer data skills and enable companies to exploit their data to its full potential.

Read more: 200 jobs as tech provider Version 1 moves to Newcastle

Fintech

Fintech in the region has had the spotlight shone on it lately, with Atom Bank, based in Durham, recently announcing their 4 day working week, much to their employees’ delight, I’m sure. It’ll be interesting to see if others in their field consider doing the same, given the region is also home to the likes of Virgin Money, WorldPay, Tesco Bank, and Newcastle Strategic Solutions (The Technology arm of Newcastle Building Society).

The regional Fintech cluster has been quietly but considerably growing these past few years. Companies such as Railsbank, Kani, Opaye (formerly Sage Pay, owned by Elavon) and flex-e-card (FEC) all call the North East home and are continuing to grow successfully.

Immersive Tech

2021 was a record year for immersive, with more than £150m of capital put into UK virtual reality (VR) (Metaverse hype spurs record £154m investment into UK VR firms (uktech.news) Indeed, Durham-based immersive tech company n-gage.io have very recently secured £150,000 of investment to develop their mobile technology platform.

And 2022 is set to bring renewed investment and focus on immersive tech in the region through the Immex City programme. Led by Gateshead Council, in partnership with the Digital Catapult North East and Tees Valley, the programme will bring new virtual production capabilities to PROTO (the first digital production facility of its kind in Europe) enabling hands on research, training and skills development opportunities for the creative sector.

E-Sports

Sunderland has also been in the news as of late, aiming to be a trailblazer in the world of esports, with the national body planning to open a performance and education campus in the city.

Rachel Burdis, Inward Investment Manager at Invest North East England

The centre, along with esports courses provided by local colleges and the University of Sunderland will help the region to become a national esports hub.

Conclusion

There remain challenges around skilled employees and access to market, but there are also clear economic opportunities. The advances of technology, access to investment, centres of excellence and the pandemic having changed the world as we know it, present an interesting prospect. I for one, look forward to what the future holds.

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