Business News Round Up (25/11/19)

Scottish tech sector lagging behind as London dominates

A new report by business advisory firm BDO has found that Scotland’s tech sector is lagging behind the UK. The report highlights the dominance of London and the South East of England which account for 55% of the tech economy (£47 billion in Gross Value Added in 2017), while Scotland accounted for £4.1 billion with Edinburgh (£1.1 billion), Glasgow (£1 billion) and Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire (£352 million) accounting for the majority of the total.

https://www.scotsman.com/business/scottish-tech-sector-lagging-behind-as-london-dominates-1-5051075

University partnership to launch new investment fund

A partnership of North East universities is to launch a new seed investment fund for spin-out companies through a partnership with venture capitalist, Northstar Ventures. Northern Accelerator is a collaboration between the Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria and Sunderland universities that brings together academics and business leaders and provides them with funding and support to form sustainable businesses.

https://www.insidermedia.com/news/north-east/university-partnership-to-launch-new-investment-fund

Scotland innovation programme announces 10 new projects

The Scottish Government’s CivTech Accelerator programme has announced ten new projects, including an initiative to develop technology which will enable people to measure their environmental impact using their mobile phones. The scheme has created 94 since it was launched in 2016 and led to participants winning more than £8.5 million in contracts.

https://www.governmenteuropa.eu/scotland-innovation-programme/95563/

Tech drive employment growth in UK cities

A new report has stated that employment in the technology sector is set to rise across UK regional cities by 16% over the next ten years. The Future of Out Cities report by real estate advisor Knight Frank revealed that technology, media and telecoms has dominated the take-up in the first three quarters of 2019, accounting for 23% of the market.

https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/2051816-tech-drives-employment-growth-in-uk-cities