Region’s tech sector shows signs of recovery
THE YORKSHIRE technology sector is showing signs of recovery, according to the latest research by insolvency and restructuring trade body R3.
R3 said the proportion of tech companies in the region which are at higher than normal risk of insolvency has started to stabilise.
The region, which has built a reputation as a centre of tech innovation, has seen the number of businesses deemed to be at higher than normal risk in the technology and IT sector rise by less than one per cent since last month. In August, just over 6,000 of the 12,000 active businesses in the sector in Yorkshire were in the overall negative band.
This represents 50.3 per cent of tech businesses in the region, slightly higher than the national average of 49 per cent.
The strongest performing regions across the UK were London and Northern Ireland, both with just 44.7 per cent of technology businesses at above normal risk of insolvency, compared with the South East which put in the poorest performance with 52.9 per cent.
Eleanor Temple, chair of R3 in Yorkshire and a barrister at Kings Chambers in Leeds, said: “In recent years, the Leeds City Region has re-invented itself as a hub for the tech sector. With the city one of the last three contenders in the battle to become the new home of Channel 4, it is hoped that this specialism will continue to develop.
“After a tough year in 2017 for tech businesses which, given their innovative nature, tend to have a higher risk profile than many others, it is reassuring to see the growth in levels of distress in the sector start to slow down both in Yorkshire and across the UK.”
Looking across all companies in Yorkshire, there was a rise of just over two per cent in the percentage of companies in the overall negative band between July and August, bringing the total to 44.4 per cent of active businesses in the region, close to the UK-wide figure of 42.3 per cent.
R3 uses research compiled from Bureau van Dijk’s ‘Fame’ database of company information to track the number of businesses in key regional sectors that have a heightened risk of entering insolvency in the next year.
The Leeds City Region has re-invented itself as a hub for the tech sector. Eleanor Temple, chair of R3 in Yorkshire.