IT Companies On The Rise In The UK
The boom in 'app' and 'FinTech' companies led to a significant rise in the number of British IT businesses last year, the Shout 99 website reports.
In fact, figures show that the number of IT companies rose from 306,000 in 2013 to 321,000 in 2014 - that's an increase of 15,000.
One factor for this increased business creation is the growth of apps, which contributed £4 billion to the UK economy last year – a figure that's expected to rise to £31 billion in the next decade. Experts say that the opportunities in this relatively new sector are drawing more investors and entrepreneurs than before.
London is now home to a number of successful app start-up companies, such as King Digital who created Candy Crush and brings in around $400 million in revenue per quarter. Amazon also recently announced plans to open an office of over 5,000 staff in the capital's app-focused 'Silicon Roundabout.'
Many of the IT staff employed in these start-ups are likely to be contractors, possibly brought in to work on short-term or temporary contracts for a specific assignment.
'FinTech' applications are also said to be a contributing factor to this development. More businesses are starting to invest in this technology, which allows financial service companies to deliver their services to customers more easily, and at lower operating costs. This has also been supported by an increased use of 'Big Data.'
According to Graham Jenner, director of NoPalaver Group - an accountancy firm that works with IT companies - the UK is increasingly proving itself to be "a breeding ground for technological innovation," which is shaking up the financial services industry for the first time since online banking launched.
"This is an area where London has a massive head start against any European rivals thanks to the close links – both physically and professionally – with the City, which means that app entrepreneurs are exceptionally in tune with the financial services market," he added.