The research commences at a time when the UK’s FinTech sector is now said to be generating £6.6 billion in revenues per year, and is acknowledged to represent a significant regional opportunity for cities and regions outside of the thriving sector in London.
The research, which will be published in the new year, will aim to analyse the current FinTech activity taking place within the Greater Manchester region to help understand where the areas of current and potential future competitive advantage lie. It is being conducted with support from organisations within the region, including MIDAS, and Whitecap is seeking sponsors to help ‘crowdfund’ the project.
It will provide recommendations as to how Greater Manchester can collectively look to develop and capitalise on these areas of competitive advantage and will engage with the key stakeholders in the region to ensure as complete a picture as possible can be established.
Richard Coates, Managing Director of Whitecap Consulting, says:
“We’re delighted to be conducting this research in the Greater Manchester region. The national FinTech market is evolving and growing beyond the start-up and investment focused activity in London, and there are multiple regional clusters and communities developing across the UK, and it is important to understand and further develop these ecosystems, to support productivity and growth.”
Tim Newns, CEO of MIDAS – Greater Manchester’s inward investment agency, said:
“Being home to the UK’s largest regional financial services industry as well as one of Europe’s largest digital and technology clusters, Greater Manchester has developed a strong reputation as a leading UK FinTech hub. The local FinTech ecosystem and industry is evolving rapidly but still has great growth potential so we are delighted to be supporting this research, which as well as highlighting our existing strengths will identify opportunities to further develop the city region’s FinTech proposition and reinforce Greater Manchester’s standing both nationally and internationally.”
Established in 2012, Whitecap Consulting is a regional strategy consultancy with six offices in Manchester, Leeds, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Bristol and Birmingham. Whitecap works with clients across multiple sectors, with Financial Services and FinTech being key areas of focus. It is also currently conducting regional FinTech ecosystem research in four other geographies: Leeds City Region, North East, Bristol, and West Midlands.
Whitecap is also the co-founder of FinTech North, the not for profit event-based initiative that has hosted over 40 events across the north since 2016, which has held numerous events in Manchester including a major annual conference in each of the last two years. FinTech North is part of the FinTech National Network, which was launched earlier this year and aims to forge closer ties between the UK’s regional FinTech clusters.
The research is expected to be published early in 2020, and anyone interested to find out more can contact [email protected].
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