Cardiff’s booming startup sector is creating huge opportunities for skilled tech staff, with demand for Python developers increasing by 34 times and roles for data scientists having tripled according to Tech Nation’s Bright Tech Future Jobs/Skills report.
The fast-growing tech sector is turning Cardiff into one of the nation’s leading innovation hubs, with 21,500 people now employed in tech in the Welsh capital.
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Tech Nation, the UK network for ambitious tech entrepreneurs, will reveal more data about Cardiff’s tech sector at an event on 30 August which will bring together local high-growth tech companies, universities, policy makers, venture capital firms/investors and tech titans to learn, share and collaborate on how they can boost the opportunities for tech companies across the country.
The roundtable event will be hosted by Tech Nation’s Head of Insights George Windsor and Gino Brancazio, Wales’ entrepreneur engagement manager.
Tech Nation is working closely with the Digital Economy Council and the Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) to recognise the critical role that ordinary tech workers play in creating the UK’s most successful growing tech companies. To do this it has launched the Bright Tech Future awards, aimed at the 99% of workers in the tech sector, rather than the founders and CEOs who are more usually recognised. To find out more about the awards and to nominate up to three team members from your company, go to this awards website.
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In Wales, the race is on to become the Principality’s first tech unicorn. Wealthify, DevOpsGuys and AMPLYFI, which have all had multi-million-pound backing to support their rapid growth, are the leading contenders but hot on their heels is a new generation of tech startups including Delio, We Build Bots, Bipsync and Backbase.
In the past three years, a total of 90 digital tech businesses have been born in the region, making startups the dominant stage of tech companies found in the city.
The average tech salary in Cardiff is £35,000 – 6% higher than average non-digital salaries in the city and when combined with the fact that Cardiff has one of the lowest costs of living in the UK, the city is an even more attractive place for businesses and employees. Based on its cost of living versus salary, Cardiff is the best place for an IT System Architect to work in the UK for spending power, earning an average of £63,857.
Nicky Morgan, Digital Secretary, said: “The Welsh digital economy is powering ahead, creating thousands of opportunities in a new generation of pioneering start-ups, and hopefully we will soon see the country’s first billion dollar tech ‘unicorn’.
“I’m pleased that some of the country’s best talent is coming together to discuss how we can help to strengthen the UK’s reputation as Europe’s leading tech hub, and I encourage bosses to nominate their staff for the inaugural Tech Nation Bright Tech Future Awards.”
Rt Hon Alun Cairns MP, Secretary of State for Wales, said: “We have committed to developing a strong entrepreneurial culture in Wales through our modern Industrial Strategy and we’re already reaping the benefits, as Tech Nation’s report reveals. With an impressive 30 tech firms being born a year, demand for jobs in digital tech will only continue to attract the brightest minds across south Wales to study at our fantastic universities and join our growing roster of tech expertise.”
George Windsor, Head of Insights at Tech Nation, said: “Cardiff’s rocketing tech companies are making a mighty contribution to the UK tech sector. With multi-million-pound investments in the region’s brightest startups and demand for digital tech roles burgeoning, the Welsh capital has established itself as a digital force to be reckoned with.”
Ian Ashley Jones, co-founder of AMPLYFI, said: “The talent pool in and around Cardiff was just one compelling reason for AMPLYFI to headquarter there. Since then, the Welsh Government has been proactively working to transform it into a hotbed of Deep Tech innovation.”
