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September 2023

Liverpool's
key tech hubs

The Baltic Triangle
Knowledge Quarter
Sci-Tech Daresbury

Emerging hubs

There are several exciting up-and-coming tech hubs close to Liverpool. St Helens, for instance, is developing a tech ecosystem of its own, benefiting from its proximity to Liverpool and Manchester but – as is the case with many of these emerging hubs – with significantly lower overheads for businesses. St Helens College has its own STEM Centre Technology Campus, helping boost tech talent working in the town. It is also home to Inovus Medical, a scaleup that designs and manufactures surgical training technologies.

Wirral
Birkenhead
Runcorn
Southport

Stakeholder view

“Liverpool has always had a strong entrepreneurial culture and it is now emerging as an exciting and growing tech hub. Some stand-out startups from the city have been making waves nationally and a series of investments by a progressive thinking and ambitious local combined authority are bringing coherence to the tech ecosystem.

“Supported by a strong talent base from leading universities and an established digital community clustered around areas such as the Baltic Triangle, there is a buzz right now that is attracting the attention of investors and talent.”
Claire Lewis
Claire LewisCEO, Baltic Ventures
“My goal is to make Liverpool City Region’s tech sector stand out in a way that only our authentic Scouse nature can. I believe we can forge a new identity based on being a hotspot for young, hungry entrepreneurs and laptop nomads who want to build successful businesses and live in a truly distinct place.

“Walk around SciTech Daresbury on any weekday afternoon, or walk down Jamaica Street in the Baltic Triangle on a Friday after work and see the confluence of world-leading creativity and cutting-edge innovation underpinned by an unbeatable lifestyle offer and edgy, fearless subculture; There is your attack brand. There is your authenticity. There is your path to shared prosperity. No other place can even begin to compete with us on this.”
Jonny Clark
Jonny ClarkLiverpool chapter director, Startup Grind
“The region has a thriving tech sector that contributes significantly to the local economy. This is recognised by local leaders, and they have invested in redeveloping the Baltic and establishing Baltic Ventures to support further growth. Digital and creative is a key sector and the cluster has gone from strength-to-strength over the last decade, supported by the Growth Platform and STFC.

“We also have key strengths in research capabilities including the Civic Data Co-operative, Hartree Centre, Digital Innovation Facility and Virtual Engineering Centre to name but a few. Both the Baltic and STFC have a real community feel to them, enabling tech businesses to access the wider support available. Despite this, our SMEs receive less investment and grant funding when compared to national averages – something we are striving to change.”
Lorna Green
Lorna GreenCEO, LYVA Labs
“The LCR Region is one to watch for the North as it emerges from the shadows of Manchester and Leeds. The startup scene is gaining pace from the Baltic Triangle, Sci-Tech Daresbury and some of the wider gaming communities including Southport.

“Whilst gaming and creativity is undoubtedly a specialism, edtech and medtech are also growing fast and are now supported by River Capital’s fund:AI which is managed out of Liverpool as the North’s first dedicated AI fund.”
David Walters
David WaltersInvestment director, River Capital
"The Liverpool City Region's digital tech sector may be smaller than some counterparts, but it boasts impressive capabilities: 97% of premises can access superfast broadband, with 210 high growth businesses, over 60,000 digital occupations, and 44,000 higher education students.

"These figures provide a solid foundation for expanding and strengthening the local tech sector and regional economy. Data City reports notable annual growth rates in the region: cleantech at 5.6%, AI firms at 8.5%, and software development companies at 12.1%. The investment zone focused on life sciences and innovation is already well-equipped with 10,000 employees and £20m of InnovateUK funding.”
Matt Robinson
Matt RobinsonHead of nations and regions, techUK

The role of tech in the Liverpool City Region

Helen Cross

Helen Cross
Cluster manager for digital & creative, Growth Platform

Not only are Liverpool City Region tech companies solving societal challenges faced globally, this young, dynamic and fast-growing tech ecosystem is also impacting the health, education, commerce and entertainment industries. It is home to companies such as Fifty Eight, which is combatting modern slavery and worker exploitation in supply chains; Circada, which is resetting circadian rhythms in healthcare settings to enable better recovery for patients; and Supplywell, supporting the education system to improve efficiencies and workforce wellbeing exemplify our vibrant and forward-thinking companies and those celebrated by the Tech Climbers annual campaign. The city region is home to renowned accelerators and innovative organisations to support these exciting, cutting-edge companies, including:
Key Sectors
Accelerators & Incubators
Support services & providers
Our social enterprises are supported through patient capital in the form of Kindred, harnessing local entrepreneurialism for social good while the LCR Angel Network is coordinating the early-stage funding landscape that is the lifeblood of tech businesses. A new seed fund is on the horizon to provide the next stage of funding for tech businesses on a pathway to success. The continuation of these new initiatives will help to tip the balance from the huge gulf of investment seen between the north and south of the country.

 The growth of the tech ecosystem here is underpinned by public and private investment into digital connectivity through the LCR Connect project. This full-fibre, ultrafast, gigabit- capable network is a gateway to access next-generation future-proofed and cloud-enabled technologies. Exploited especially by both data-intensive healthtech and entertainment sectors, this resilient high-speed connectivity shows a commitment to attracting and growing a future workforce in the tech sector.

 In tandem, Liverpool 5G’s unique and innovative consortium of public, private and third sector parties with a leading UK 5G technology vendor has created the largest 5G mmWave mesh network in the UK and the second-largest in the world and trialled countless innovative technical products for the benefit of the community.

 Businesses create and co-innovate within inspiring, connected, collaborative communities across the Baltic Triangle, Fabric District, Ten Streets, Knowledge Quarter and Sci-Tech Daresbury. New creative clusters forming in Birkenhead, Southport, Huyton and Runcorn cater for further growth.

 Four universities in the city region have a population of over 70,000 students – 5,000 specialising in digital or creative courses each year. A vibrant entry-level talent pipeline is fuelled by a strong further education sector with tailored industry-specific courses across the city region in games and animation, TV & film production, digital development and coding, music and content production. The University of Liverpool has one of the top-performing computer sciences departments in the country, ranked fifth in the UK for world-leading research outputs. And, along with Liverpool John Moores University, it offers hyper-applied courses with outstanding industry links – creating fit-for-work graduates with the requisite specialist skills.

This is a city region with the capacity to surprise and excite – culture has fuelled a renaissance of the city region with major cultural events and new ways to reach audiences. Most recently Eurovision, hosted on behalf of Ukraine, gave rise to local partnerships with next-generation digital, gaming, immersive and film technology companies to elevate this global event to the biggest seen yet.

 We can’t wait to see what our innovative companies do next to push the boundaries of tech being a force for good and we’re here to support them every step of the way.

 To find out more, visit https://growthplatform.org/sectors/digital-and-creative/
Helen Cross

Helen Cross

Cluster manager for digital & creative,
Growth Platform

GP ILCR

Tech decision maker view

To get a finger on the pulse of how the Liverpool tech industry currently views itself, the region’s greatest strengths and challenges, and where it is heading, UKTN commissioned Censuswide to survey 100 managers at technology companies based in Liverpool during July. Here’s what they said.

Strong foundations, but room for improvement
but room for improvement The right growth trajectory
Lagging global recognition
Local support trumps central government
More devolution
Subdued growth expectations
Game plan in place
Leading sectors
Sector potential
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