Manchester’s ‘exceptional’ tech firms are helping the North bridge the gap with London, according to NatWest bank.
New figures show lending into the sector in the north increased by nearly 5 per cent year-on-year to May 2017.
NatWest’s dedicated technology, media and telecoms team loaned over £300m to tech businesses from May 2016 to May 2017 – an increase of nearly £8m from the previous year.
The team’s head, Neil Bellamy, said: “It is great to see the regions beginning to close the gap on London’s technology hub.
“Firms outside of London often don’t receive the same kind of limelight as some of the bigger players.
“But the figures are a clear indication of the desire of exceptional technology businesses in Manchester to grow and thrive.
“There has never been a better time to start up a technology business.
“Thanks to new technology you can literally set up a business from your smart phone on your kitchen table – so getting a business started has never been cheaper.
“There are also so many ways to use other people’s technology to scale up your business – like through the cloud – so opportunity and potential is unlimited.”
NatWest’s TMT team recently assisted Manchester-based Wondrwall Limited with a £2million financing package to support the tech firm’s business growth aspirations.
The team also worked together with asset finance partners Lombard to fund equipment for their manufacturing process.
Daniel Burton, CEO, said: “NatWest supported us right from the beginning as a pre-revenue business, and they continue to support us through our plans for rapid expansion throughout Europe.
“The technology sector in Manchester is really booming – particularly since Media City was established, which opened the doors to design and technology businesses. A lot of people don’t realise that Manchester is a hub for technology business, but there are some amazing companies coming out of the city.”
Wondrwall has developed a state of the art intelligent home solution which automatically controls your heating, lighting, security, safety with built in voice control.
The system, which is made up of hardware and built in software, transforms any home into an intelligent one that can operate on its own while also responding to individual behaviours and living habits.