Our historical borough has been identified as one of the top locations in the UK for investment in technology.
A recent report by business management consultants Tech Nation ranks Guildford in fourth place in the South East and 16th overall in the UK, with £15 million of investment in 2020. This is the first time that Guildford has been featured in the report’s league table.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Joss Bigmore says:
“This is great news for Guildford. Inclusion in the Tech Nation Report is a vote of confidence in our town as a home to the very best of innovation and entrepreneurship. It puts us firmly on the map as a place to start and grow a technology business.
“The promotion of Guildford as a great place for business is an integral part of our Economic Recovery Strategy and a proactive approach to inward investment is a top priority for us. We also collaborate with the University of Surrey to highlight Guildford as an outstanding location for innovation and the adoption of new technologies. The University manages the Surrey 100, a network of investors which, as well as offering guidance and mentoring, provides a valuable network to connect growing businesses looking for finance with local investors.”
Cllr Bigmore continues: “As part of our Innovation Strategy, we are actively involved in the digital games sector as one of the lead sponsors for the successful Guildford Games Festival. We were part of a working group that helped the Government award the sector High Potential Opportunity status. This means that the digital games sector is promoted across the world by the UK’s commercial teams in the embassy network.
“We also recently provided funding for the launch of a new Guildford Digital Health Hub. With its own dedicated website and events programme, the Hub will provide a new network for businesses in telemedicine and digital health to network, showcase new technologies and identify commercial opportunities within the healthcare sector.”
Guildford also enjoys strengths in the animal health, cyber security, telecoms and space and satellite sectors. Many of the businesses are based at the Surrey Research Park and Surrey Technology Centre which contribute over £600 million to the economy and support 4000 jobs.
The influential Tech Nation Report tracks the amount of financial investment that companies and countries attract, particularly venture capital, where investors put money in, but also play a role in the company’s growth and development.
We have worked with Enterprise M3 and Tech Nation over a number of years to promote and showcase Guildford as a location for technology investment.
The report shows that the UK continues to be an attractive place for investors.
More information on Tech Nation and the report can be found here https://technation.io/report2021/#uk-spotlights.
