Welcome to the Local Digital Index

Foreword by Julian David, CEO of techUK

This is the 4th edition of techUK's Local Digital Index. And you may have noticed some changes from the 2023 edition, a new website, new mapping, new data, and new sources.

In 2024, the UK is the 3rd biggest tech sector in the world, valued at over $1 trillion (behind only the USA and China), and raising more for start-up's than our European neighbours.

But most tech ecosystems across the UK are facing similar challenges; access to capital, infrastructure and talent.

Ultimately this is all about people. People's jobs, people's businesses, people's kids, people's careers, people's future, people's help later in life, people's health, people's hobbies and homes, people's free time and quality of life, people's hope, opportunities, risks and concerns.

If people don't have access to capital they won't start firms, they won't invest, they won't innovate. If they don't have access to high quality digital infrastructure then they'll go elsewhere and won't grow here. And if they don't have access to talented people, or people aren't given the chance to develop their own skills, then they won't take that chance on a career in tech or see themselves as working in tech or running a business.

As we look ahead to 2025, a renewed entrepreneurial mindset is required.

Competition is good and refines businesses, service and products but a lack of collaboration is causing firms in the UK tech sector to battle for a larger piece of the cake, when instead we need to be seeking ways to make the cake bigger... much bigger.

We need to be building the market for companies to grow, rather than fight over market share.

And so, growing the tech ecosystem requires targeted programmes and policies, introduced with certainty and stability that they will stand the test of time — not just the latest political cycle — and that Government (national, devolved and local) will stand with our business community to make good on promises and policies made.

I would say to national and local leaders, businesses, policy and decision makers, and those from across the public sector, that we in the tech sector understand and appreciate the financial challenges you face, because we face them too. And we know that growing local tech ecosystems that support a digitally and technologically advanced UK takes time. It's a journey.

However, not having the resources you want isn't a reason to delay starting the journey. And it needs to start by collaborating with, listening to and acting alongside UK tech businesses.

The UK Industrial Strategy and Local Growth Plans need to have real impact, meaning, longevity. The time for indecision, delay, hedging bets and short-termism is over. But I'd go further, we don't just need you in our corner cheering us on, we need you to be active in this work.

We need UK companies, large and small, to re-capture the global mindset that helped Britain to shape the world. We need the company that hasn't even started yet to have global growth ambitions from day one. And we need the UK's different tech ecosystems to be achieving more so we can move away from a reliance on a London-centric economy to one where our big cities, great universities and innovation centres are growing our place in the world, in new markets, and the economy of the future.

We need 2025 to be the year of tech across the UK.

My thanks to our headline sponsors BT Group, and to Moore Kingston Smith, without who's support this insight into the UK's tech sector wouldn't be possible. And our thanks to techUK members, The Data City, and Open Innovations for helping drive this new version of the Local Digital Index.