A recent study carried out by the UK Government’s Digital Economy Council has revealed that the UK has grown to be third in the global rankings for technology companies worth $1bn or more, known as Unicorns.
The growth of these Unicorns has been spurred on by intense investment into the sector. In the past six months alone almost $5 billion has been injected into British start-ups. In fact over a third of Europe’s fastest growing tech companies are based here, making the UK the third biggest creator of Unicorn companies, behind the USA and China.
This increase in the UK Technology Sector has, according to Theresa May, contributed £130 billion to the economy every year, a number made all the more considerable when paired with the sector’s growth rate, pegged at growing 50% faster than the rest of the economy.
To maintain the momentum of growth the UK Government is working to unlock various pockets of intellectual capital, from Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire to Northamptonshire. This Growth Region is set to receive billions of pounds in investment to assist with the creation of homes, businesses and infrastructure.
But what does this mean for Britain in terms of the global scale? With the uncertainties of Brexit looming it is too early to say, however currently the Technology Sector is proving less exposed by the continuing uncertainty. Partly in thanks to the lack of physical goods that could get affected by Tariffs and Border Checks.