Vicki Shiel, February 26, 2016 2 min read
Next up in our Tech Nation 2016 series, it’s the Manchester city cluster in focus
Manchester has established itself as one of the top five clusters in the UK, with the second highest GVA growth (92% from 2010 to 2014) and digital employment over 50,000. It was recently awarded £10m as Innovate UK’s IoT City Demonstrator (in partnership with Cisco).
Manchester’s specialisms include Edtech, e-commerce and adtech, and historically, digital entertainment. Global digital agencies located in Manchester include Amaze and Building Blocks, while leading companies include online car booking service rentalcars.com and Northern Stars winner and data analytics specialist Peak.
Support organisation Manchester Digital and events such as Ladies that UX, the weekly Friday Drinkabout MCR and the Lean Conf have fostered this active community, complementing the city’s academic specialisms in materials science and computer science.
Rise Manchester, The Sharp Project, Innospace, The Landing, Together and SpaceportX provide space and assistance for startups, while MediaCityUK also contributes to Manchester’s future growth plans.
The recent injection of funds from Government will help fund the building of Forward Manchester, creating a support hub for software engineers and tech entrepreneurs.
