The new ‘Tech Map London’ has also revealed that London is home to 82 fast-growing ‘scale-ups’ – science and technology businesses with an annual turnover of more than £1m - which have grown by more than 20 per cent over two successive years. Most of these businesses are in the digital sector and more than half of them are in just four boroughs - Westminster, the City of London, Camden, and Hackney.
London is now widely regarded as Europe’s leading tech cluster and the city is increasingly recognised as a leading centre for the life sciences industry with MedCity – an organisation launched by the Mayor last April promoting the capital and South East as a leading centre for the research, development and commercialisation of new treatments.
The map has been produced for the Mayor and the London Enterprise Panel by Trampoline Systems. It shines a light on the capital’s vibrant and rapidly growing science and technology business base - showing who the businesses are, where they are located, where new clusters are emerging and how fast they are growing.
According to Tech Map London, the fastest-growing digital scale-up in the capital is Skyscanner Ltd, a flight comparison site, whose turnover increased by 93 per cent to £64.8m from 2012 to 2013. The turnover of the life sciences sector rose from £2.81bn in 2006 to £4.49bn in 2012, a rise of 60 per cent. Over the same period, the turnover of the digital technology sector grew from £18bn to £27.5bn, an increase of more than 50 per cent. It also shows that that the fastest growing science and technology firms are located in the City of Westminster.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “London is buzzing with great entrepreneurial and academic minds developing the latest technological and scientific breakthroughs. When that is combined with the power of our financial institutions, it is hardly surprising that our science and technology sector is going from strength to strength. This map reveals the true strength of this growing sector which will help to power the capital and UK’s economy for decades to come.”
The map will be a useful tool for investors and businesses wanting to see where London’s science and technology clusters are emerging and how fast they are growing. In addition, it includes graphical visualisations of hotspots and charts showing trends and analysis over the last 10 years.
The map is underpinned by a research project produced by SQW and Trampoline Systems which provides an insight into the growth of London’s science and technology sectors and sets out areas where agencies could work to boost the industries.
It estimates the number of businesses in science and technology based in London, and the number of people those businesses employ, by accumulating all activity that falls within digital technology, life sciences and healthcare, publishing and broadcasting and other scientific and technological manufacturing and services sectors.
The report also highlights the capital’s 50+ incubators, accelerators and innovation centres that have developed over recent years, access to finance, the vast research base at some of the leading global universities and the presence of major teaching hospitals and academic health science centres as key reasons for growth in these sectors.
ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
Tech Map London can be accessed at www.TechMap.London
Tech Map London uses Companies House data, and will be updated quarterly to ensure it is always up to date. It has been produced with the support of Geovation Hub London, Ordnance Survey’s new location-data lab in Clerkenwell. Geovation is a major initiative to support the growing community of startups and innovators using location data to deliver new digital products and services. Next month, Tech Map London will be upgraded to OSMaps, Ordnance Survey’s new high–detail consumer mapping platform.
The report produced by SQW and Trampoline Systems can be viewed at /priorities/business-economy/publications/mapping-london-s-science-and-technology-sectors
The London Enterprise Panel (LEP) is the local enterprise partnership for London. Chaired by Mayor of London Boris Johnson, the LEP is the body through which the Mayoralty works with London’s boroughs, business and Transport for London to take a strategic view of the regeneration, employment and skills agenda for London. The LEP is responsible for overseeing the allocation of over £400m of funding to drive jobs and growth in the capital and provides strategic oversight of London’s €1.5 billion European Structural & Investment Funds programme.
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