What does Barnsley have to offer ambitious digital tech entrepreneurs? We asked Tracey Johnson, Project Manager at Barnsley Digital Media Centre (or DMC). For granular data on Barnsley’s digital tech ecosystem – including its companies (and founders), accelerators, and workspaces – see Data Commons.

• View our Yorkshire Network page for more insights, resources and support     

What are the opportunities in Barnsley?

Barnsley is a yappy Yorkshire terrier snapping at the heels of everyone! We don’t want to be a city – we want to be a brilliant, honest and successful Tech Town at the heart of the best Yorkshire we can be.

We’ve got a lively creative and digital community in the Digital Media Centre, our expanding Digital Campus and across the town.

Plus, there’s an opportunity to have more product-led digital companies here through our work with tech accelerator IoT Tribe, startup experts Capital Enterprise, the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and the universities internationally.

What are the challenges in Barnsley?

Talent, skills, entrepreneurship levels, access to finance and the right business support for tech companies and founders are all areas where we need to do more.

What we will ‘feel’ more than our city neighbours is the increasing impact of automation and AI on the industries that are the cornerstones of our economy locally – logistics, manufacturing and industrial services.