{"id":18718,"date":"2025-04-18T17:05:26","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T17:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.instantoffices.com\/blog\/?p=18718"},"modified":"2025-04-30T08:32:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T08:32:34","slug":"uks-biggest-tech-hotspots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.instantoffices.com\/blog\/featured\/uks-biggest-tech-hotspots\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond London: The UK\u2019s biggest tech hotspots in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last year, 144,596 tech companies were launched in the UK, a 52% increase on the year before. London remains the country\u2019s tech powerhouse with nearly 52,000 new businesses launched in the capital alone, but places like Manchester, Birmingham and Belfast made big gains as emerging hotspots.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the US and China, the UK is one of only three countries in the world with a tech sector valued at over $1 trillion. It is also home to a third of all of Europe\u2019s unicorns (private start-up companies valued at over $1 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where tech companies thrive<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unsurprisingly, our analysis revealed that London is home to the greatest number of tech businesses in 2024, with just shy of 52,000 and a 58% growth rate over the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

London\u2019s access to investment makes it a city well placed and set up for tech entrepreneurship. It already has a well-developed tech ecosystem, a history of innovation, a highly skilled workforce, and a consumer market open to new technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manchester is a notable runner up, with 3,235 new tech businesses registered and strong YoY growth at 54%. The Northern powerhouse is home to several unicorns and entrepreneurship is supported by purpose-built innovation districts like Bruntwood SciTech and Enterprise City’s live-work-play ecosystem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, Poole stood out for its tremendous 89% growth in tech companies over 2024, landing them with 867 new tech companies, just 34 shy of Bristol, which had 901. Considering Poole\u2019s population of just 49,300<\/a> (versus Bristol\u2019s 483,000<\/a>), this is quite a feat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Location<\/strong><\/td>Total companies 2024<\/strong><\/td>Growth<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
London<\/strong><\/td>51,943<\/td>58%<\/td><\/tr>
Manchester<\/strong><\/td>3,235<\/td>54%<\/td><\/tr>
Birmingham<\/strong><\/td>2,637<\/td>40%<\/td><\/tr>
Belfast<\/strong><\/td>1,818<\/td>86%<\/td><\/tr>
Glasgow<\/strong><\/td>1,639<\/td>59%<\/td><\/tr>
Cardiff<\/strong><\/td>1,249<\/td>43%<\/td><\/tr>
Ilford<\/strong><\/td>1,199<\/td>64%<\/td><\/tr>
Leeds<\/strong><\/td>1,082<\/td>17%<\/td><\/tr>
Leicester<\/strong><\/td>1,067<\/td>52%<\/td><\/tr>
Nottingham<\/strong><\/td>977<\/td>41%<\/td><\/tr>
Liverpool<\/strong><\/td>931<\/td>37%<\/td><\/tr>
Edinburgh<\/strong><\/td>922<\/td>58%<\/td><\/tr>
Bristol<\/strong><\/td>901<\/td>17%<\/td><\/tr>
Poole<\/strong><\/td>867<\/td>89%<\/td><\/tr>
Sheffield<\/strong><\/td>779<\/td>46%<\/td><\/tr>
Luton<\/strong><\/td>744<\/td>73%<\/td><\/tr>
Harrow<\/strong><\/td>722<\/td>42%<\/td><\/tr>
Bolton<\/strong><\/td>719<\/td>33%<\/td><\/tr>
Reading<\/strong><\/td>686<\/td>46%<\/td><\/tr>
Mildenhall<\/strong><\/td>685<\/td>67%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Young entrepreneurs are making their mark on the tech industry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the Generation Entrepreneur Report, 58%<\/a> of people between 18 and 35 in the UK own or are interested in owning a business. This young entrepreneurial spirit in tech is reflected in our data \u2013 last year, founders under 30 accounted for 40% of all new tech companies started in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to research, the driving forces behind becoming an entrepreneur for most young people is to make money (52%) and to fulfil a personal vision or passion (29%), with fulfilling a personal vision or passion more important among women than men. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Age<\/strong><\/td>Number of founders<\/strong><\/td>% of total<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
18-25<\/td>10,607<\/td>18%<\/td><\/tr>
26-30<\/td>13,134<\/td>22%<\/td><\/tr>
31-40<\/td>17,713<\/td>29%<\/td><\/tr>
41-50<\/td>12,916<\/td>21%<\/td><\/tr>
50<\/td>9,635<\/td>16%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Women in the tech industry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to gender, the data is less positive. Despite the tech sector having some of the most funded new startups, women are massively underrepresented in the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to our data, female entrepreneurs represent just a fraction of 2024 tech founders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

London had the greatest number of female tech founders, with 4,601, while Glasgow had the highest YoY proportion of female founders, at 11%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cities with the greatest number of female tech founders:<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
City<\/strong><\/td>Female founders<\/strong><\/td>% of total founders<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
London<\/td>4,601<\/td>9%<\/td><\/tr>
Manchester<\/td>286<\/td>9%<\/td><\/tr>
Birmingham<\/td>207<\/td>8%<\/td><\/tr>
Glasgow<\/td>174<\/td>11%<\/td><\/tr>
Belfast<\/td>155<\/td>9%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The need for stronger support ecosystems in tech<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although 2024 was another year of strong growth for the tech sector, it\u2019s clear that geographic and social challenges remain to achieve a truly diverse entrepreneurial environment. The disparity between number of male and female founders, combined with a lower rate of growth in otherwise innovative hubs like Leeds (17%) and Bristol (17%) underscore these challenges acutely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To level the playing field, we need to focus on:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n