Newbury named top tech town in UK

Vodafone and Microfocus HQs account for high 'digital density'

NEWBURY has been named as the top tech town in the UK in a report released today (Thursday).

The Tech Nation report 2018 shows that the town beat Reading and London in terms of 'digital density', which measures digital tech specialisation in clusters compared to density in the UK.

The report also reveals the rise of ‘digital suburbs’ and tech towns across the UK where the digital tech sector is growing in urban areas not usually associated with startups and tech businesses.

The report said: "Locations of larger tech companies may explain some of these findings.

"Vodafone and Micro Focus have their UK headquarters in Newbury, for instance, resulting in a digital tech density that is around 15 times higher than the UK average.

"These clusters are attracting more digital tech businesses, which is important for local economies given that the digital tech sector is growing 2.6 times faster than the UK economy."

Newbury also put in a strong performance in terms of productivity of local tech ecosystems.

The town came second behind Bristol but ahead of Swindon in third, generating £304,000 per employee.

West Berkshire’s executive member for economic development, James Fredrickson (Con, Victoria) said: "It’s fantastic to see that Newbury is the top tech town in the UK.

"Today’s announcement is yet further proof that the decisions we have made as a council have given us the strong digital infrastructure businesses need.

"Newbury is home to both household tech names as well as some growing, innovative start-ups and it’s clear that being based here offers them great lifestyle opportunities, a well-qualified workforce, a strong local economy and the best possible connectivity.

"This shows once again that Newbury, and West Berkshire more widely, is open for business."