West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has backed a major new initiative to build one of the UK’s leading tech hubs through a major new organisation designed to strengthen West Yorkshire’s technology sector.
Tech West Yorkshire is being launched with backing from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and will operate across Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees, bringing together technology businesses, universities, investors, entrepreneurs and skills providers under a single regional banner.
Its central aim is straightforward: To connect people and companies across the region and help build a stronger, more resilient tech ecosystem that supports economic growth throughout West Yorkshire.
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The launch comes at a time when the region’s digital economy is expanding rapidly. Figures from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority show there are around 9,700 digital, tech and AI businesses operating across the region, employing more than 50,000 people.
West Yorkshire also claims to have more technology scale-up businesses than anywhere in the UK outside London and the South East, while Leeds has become one of the country’s fastest-growing digital centres.
The city is home to more than 3,500 digital and tech firms and has the third-largest concentration of high-growth businesses in the UK outside the capital. According to the Combined Authority, Leeds’ tech sector is growing 125 per cent faster than the national average, with software development and cyber security among the strongest performing areas.
The region has also been recognised through the Government’s High Potential Opportunities programme as a leading location for data and artificial intelligence.
Brabin said: “From our Northern Square Mile of FinTech firms to our multimillion-pound HealthTech Investment Zone, our great region is building its reputation as a leading digital, tech and AI powerhouse.
“By bringing together our world-class talent, ambitious businesses and innovative universities, we will help companies across West Yorkshire to flourish, supporting the creation of good, skilled jobs.
“With our Local Growth Plan backing our fastest growing sectors to grow even faster, and our Business Growth Hub supporting all of our local businesses to succeed, we’re building a stronger, better off West Yorkshire powered by the jobs and businesses of the future.”
Rather than replacing those groups, Tech West Yorkshire is intended to help strengthen links between them and give the sector a more joined-up regional presence.
Plans include supporting and promoting tech events across all five districts, helping firms access finance and export opportunities, improving connections between businesses and universities and encouraging more people into digital careers.
There will also be a particular focus on sectors including artificial intelligence, fintech, cybersecurity, healthtech, and digital infrastructure.
The initiative builds on the success of Leeds Digital Festival, which over the past decade has grown into one of the UK’s largest open-platform technology events.
Deb Hetherington, director of Leeds Digital, said the new organisation had been created to reflect the scale and maturity of the region’s digital sector: “There is already a huge amount of good work happening across West Yorkshire, but too often businesses and communities have operated separately from one another,” she explained. “The opportunity now is to build stronger connections across the region and make it easier for people to collaborate, share ideas and create opportunities together.
“We want businesses in Bradford to feel connected to businesses in Leeds, Wakefield or Calderdale. We want startups to have better access to investors and universities, and we want people entering the sector to feel there is a strong regional community around them. If we can create those connections consistently over time, the whole region benefits.”
West Yorkshire’s universities are also expected to play a major role in the initiative’s development. The region produces more data science graduates than anywhere else in the UK, and more than 43,000 students graduate from its seven universities each year, and this combination of talent, lower operating costs, and an established business base gives West Yorkshire a strong competitive advantage over other UK tech hubs.
Alongside events and networking activities, Tech West Yorkshire is expected to launch a regional brand and marketing platform to promote the area’s technology sector to investors, businesses and international audiences.
Organisers hope the initiative will eventually become financially self-sustaining through sponsorship and private-sector backing once the initial public funding period ends.
