£2.3 Billion boost and 1,600 jobs created as UK Tech goes global

Tuesday, 12 June 2018 22:30

£2.3bn of private investment and 1,600 new jobs to be announced at an event in Downing Street as part of London Tech Week PM to confirm new ‘Start-Up’ visa to give accelerators key role in bringing business founders to the UK. £2.5bn Patient Capital Fund launched to help promising UK companies to go global 1,600 new jobs and billions of pounds of investment into the UK economy will be announced today as part of an event Prime Minister...Request free trial

£2.3bn of private investment and 1,600 new jobs to be announced at an event in Downing Street as part of London Tech Week
PM to confirm new ‘Start-Up’ visa to give accelerators key role in bringing business founders to the UK.
£2.5bn Patient Capital Fund launched to help promising UK companies to go global

1,600 new jobs and billions of pounds of investment into the UK economy will be announced today as part of an event Prime Minister Theresa May is hosting at Downing Street.

The Prime Minister will host a raft of cutting-edge companies for a roundtable, as part of London Tech Week, to showcase Britain as the best place in the world to run a tech company. This event kicks off a series of roundtables to drive inward investment in key sectors.

Companies announcing investment today include:

Salesforce, who are investing £1.9bn in the UK over the next five years, which will include the opening of their second UK data centre in 2019
Mubadala, who are launching £300m European investment fund based in the UK
NTT data who are investing £41m to open a new office and Innovation Centre, creating up to 200 jobs over the next three years

The Prime Minister will in turn make a number of commitments so that tech companies will also benefit from government funding, and greater access to talent and data under new plans.

These announcements will include:

A new £2.5 billion British Patient Capital programme, which is expected to attract a further £5 billion in private investment, to support UK companies with high growth potential to access the long-term investment they need to grow and go global.
A new Start-Up Visa for entrepreneurs will launch in Spring 2019. This will replace a visa route which was exclusively for graduates, opening it up to talented business founders. This will include accelerators playing a role in the endorsement of candidates.
Roger Taylor will be announced as Chair of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, alongside a consultation on the role of the Centre – a key part of plans for a new National Data Strategy.
Opening up key parts of the Ordnance Survey’s valuable geospatial data to small businesses for free to boost competition in the digital economy.
Two new Tech Hubs will be launched in Brazil and South Africa, to build innovative partnerships and develop skills, capability and business networks in these markets.

Over 180 tech founders, entrepreneurs and investors will also attend a reception at Downing Street this evening, which will celebrate the UK’s position as a world-leading destination for tech investment.

Britain is leading Europe in tech investment as evidenced last week when Amazon announced the creation of 2,500 jobs here and yesterday Big Commerce announced that it will open its first European office in London this year.

Last year, British tech businesses attracted $7.8bn of funding, almost double the amount received in 2016, compared to France and Germany’s combined total of $6bn and the Prime Minister will reaffirm that the UK’s leadership is set to grow as our modern Industrial Strategy drives further investment in centres of UK expertise.

Some 2.1 million people are now employed in the digital tech economy and a new digital tech job is created in the UK every 50 minutes, according to new estimates released this week by Dealroom and Tech Nation.

Founders Forum, who will be in Downing Street today, will also launch a new start-up competition across UK secondary schools and universities to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

“The measures we are announcing today will allow innovative British start-ups to invest in their future – and in the UK – by hiring more skilled people, expanding their business and exporting their expertise across the world.

“It’s a great time to be in tech in the UK, and our modern Industrial Strategy will drive continued investment, ensuring the nation flourishes in the industries of the future and creating more high-paying jobs.”

Chancellor Philip Hammond said:

“The UK is home to some of the world’s most innovative companies and I want to make sure that they stay at the forefront of the tech revolution. So, British Patient Capital will provide an extra £2.5 billion for these cutting-edge business ensuring Britain remains one of the best places to start and grow a company.”

International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox said:

“The UK is already a world-leading destination for tech investment with one tech start-up opening every 50 minutes. Our tech sector, with our strong legal system, skilled workforce and low taxation economy combine with our world class universities to make us the most attractive home for investment in Europe.

“As an international economic department, DIT will continue to encourage investment from overseas with a further series of events to attract inward business. Last month we launched a new online portfolio of opportunities worth £30bn, and in turn this will drive growth and create jobs in our economy.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Additional Tech Roundtable Attendee Announcements:

Cubic Transport Systems will invest £31.5m to expand its operations and R&D facilities around the UK over the next three years.
World Wide Generation will invest £17m in the UK to support the implementation of international contracts for social housing.
Orbital Micro Systems (OMS) will invest £7.2m to establish their HQ in the UK and set up a Scottish manufacturing facility, creating 50 jobs.
Wayra UK, Telefonica’s open innovation platform, and the University of Edinburgh are jointly announcing a £1.6m AI and Blockchain accelerator that will welcome 20 start-ups a year starting this autumn.
Fujitsu are opening a Digital Transformation Centre in London on 27 June.
Funding Circle UK will hire 200 people in the UK this year.

Roundtable Attendees:

Brent Hoberman, Entrepreneur and Investor, Founders Forum (Co-Chair)

Karen Appleton, Entrepreneur and Investor, X-fund

Roger Crow, Executive VP and MD, Cubic Transportation Systems

Samir Desai, Co-Founder, Funding Circle

Dr Demis Hassabis, Entrepreneur, DeepMind

Manjula Lee, Entrepreneur, World Wide Generation

Jean Liu, President, Didi Chuxing

Rajeev Misra, CEO, Softbank

Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Mubadala

Simon Mulcahy, CMO, Salesforce

Simon Williams, CEO UK Operations, NTT DATA UK

Nicklas Zennström, Entrepreneur and Investor, Atomico

Martin Migoya, Co-Founder, Globant

Sarah Friar, CFO, Square

Fiona Darmon, Partner and COO, Jerusalem Venture Partners

Keith Morgan, CEO, British Business Bank

Policy Announcements:

Patient Capital

We are launching the British Patient Capital Fund – worth £2.5 billion and expected to attract a further £5 billion in private investment – to ensure that promising start-ups can access the capital they need to expand.

Start-Up Visas

This will expand the existing Graduate Entrepreneur route to allow a wider pool of business founders, endorsed by accelerators, to develop their best ideas here in the UK and will launch in Spring 2019.

Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation

We are announcing Roger Taylor as the chair of the new Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, which will shape how we use data and AI. The Centre will help us put public trust in how their data is used at the core of a National Data Strategy, currently being developed by Culture Secretary Matt Hancock.

Tech Hubs

And we are launching two international tech hubs in Brazil and South Africa. They will be formed of locally-engaged teams based in the respective British Embassies to facilitate the sharing of UK expertise and best practice for digital tech, supporting local entrepreneurs, start-ups and established tech companies through training and mentoring.