Technology

Posted on February 25, 2019 by staff

UK tech start-ups rose 14 per cent last year

Technology

The number of new tech start-ups being set up in the UK rose by 14 per cent last year.

The figures, from Companies House, show that there were 11,864 software development and programming businesses incorporated in 2018, up from 10,394 companies the year before.

London recorded the highest number of annual incorporations at 4,752, an increase of 14 per cent.

This was followed by the South East at 1,398, a two per cent rise.

The North West recorded 1,079 new tech firms, 48 per cent more that the previous year and the highest growth of any UK region.

The data also revealed that tech company incorporations grew across every region in the UK with the exception of Scotland where the number of tech start-ups dipped by 4 per cent, and in the North East where the numbers remained flat.

“Given the current economic uncertainty, it’s fantastic to see that tech start-ups have continued their upward trajectory,” said David Blacher, head of RSM’s technology, media and telecoms team, which compiled the figures.

“While the rate of increase didn’t match 2017 when we saw a 60 per cent jump, the numbers show that entrepreneurs are continuing to innovate and venture capital, private equity and traditional funders are still lining up to commit funds to the right projects.”

“The challenge for start-ups, particularly in the tech space is to develop at speed and to scale-up fast.

“There can be a high rate of failures as projects can often get overtaken by new technological innovations or better resourced competitors. But get the formula right, find the right backers and success can be very lucrative.”