Vicki Shiel, June 1, 2018 2 min read
If you’ve ever wondered who the top 100 tech companies in the North of England are, look no further. We’ve produced a magazine that showcases and celebrates the fastest-growing businesses in the region.
It marks the second Northern Tech 100 league table, a list produced by our partner GP Bullhound, and it’s great to see so many companies remain on the table this year, as well as seeing so many new faces join the ranks.
View the 2018 Northern Tech 100 league table and magazine
Manchester-based e-commerce and marketplace business In Touch Networks topped the table this year with an impressive 236% growth rate over the past three years.
Having topped the table in 2017, it’s impressive to see The Car Buying Group take third position this year, having doubled staff numbers in the past year and grown 191% in three years.
New entries include social media influencer agency Social Chain. And we were delighted to see data analytics firm Peak make it onto this year’s table – a company that’s been on both our Northern Stars and Upscale growth programmes.
Related: The Northern Tech 100 league table 2017
I absolutely love the fact that many of the companies in the top 100 are based in places you probably wouldn’t expect. There’s Redu in County Durham, Trak Global in Crewe, Quint Group in Macclesfield, Evoke Creative in Wirral, Better2Know in Morecambe, Mobica in Wilmslow, Evolution Funding in Chesterfield… you get the picture.
I’ve even discovered a few on my doorstep with Virtual College in Ilkley and Lead Tech in Pool-in-Wharfedale (turns out my quiet Yorkshire enclave is a bit more ‘with it’ than I gave it credit for).
It just goes to show that great tech companies can be found right across the country – not just hip hotspots like Shoreditch and the Northern Quarter. Indeed, in our recent Tech Nation Report 2018 we found that the UK has a host of digital suburbs, not just cities.
The league table was borne out of GP Bullhound’s annual Northern Tech Awards. We saw an opportunity to work together to shine an even bigger spotlight on as many companies as possible, and that’s what this publication aims to do.
The rankings are based on revenue growth over the past three years. To be eligible to apply, companies had to prove they were an active technology company with at least £500,000 revenue in 2015, and based in the North of the UK (including Scotland).
We want to celebrate the growth of the sector in the North of England, challenge the perception that most tech companies are based in London and the big cities, share insights from the companies that are blazing a trail, and openly discuss some of the challenges the sector faces.
We’d love to hear your views on this year’s league table and the growth of the tech scene in the North. Is your company on this year’s table? Share on Twitter and LinkedIn using #NorthernTech100 and we’ll see you there.
