Tech West Yorkshire launches with WYCA backing to connect 9,700 digital businesses and 50,000 workers across the region, as Leeds is confirmed as the UK’s third-largest concentration of high-growth tech firms outside London
A major new organisation designed to strengthen West Yorkshire’s technology sector has launched with backing from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. Tech West Yorkshire will operate across Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Calderdale, and Kirklees, bringing together technology businesses, universities, investors, and skills providers under a single regional banner. WYCA figures show there are around 9,700 digital, tech, and AI businesses operating across the region, employing more than 50,000 people. Leeds alone 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 London. The city’s tech sector is growing 125 per cent faster than the national average, with software development and cyber security among the strongest performing areas.
Why This Matters For Leeds
The 125 per cent growth figure and the third-largest concentration of high-growth businesses outside London position Leeds as a genuine national tech centre. For Leeds tech businesses, Tech West Yorkshire creates a single front door to investors, universities, and export opportunities that previously required navigating multiple organisations.
What Tech West Yorkshire Will Do
The organisation will focus on 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. Priority sectors include 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 organisation had been created to reflect the scale and maturity of the region’s digital sector. She said there is already a huge amount of good work happening across West Yorkshire but too often businesses and communities have operated separately.
“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.”
— Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
Leeds at the Centre of Tech West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire has more technology scale-up businesses than anywhere in the UK outside London and the South East. The region has been recognised through the government’s High Potential Opportunities programme as a leading location for data and artificial intelligence. Its seven universities produce more data science graduates than anywhere else in the UK, with more than 43,000 students graduating each year. Hetherington said the opportunity is to build stronger connections across the region, making it easier to collaborate, share ideas, and create opportunities together. She wants businesses in Bradford to feel connected to businesses in Leeds, Wakefield, or Calderdale, and wants startups to have better access to investors and universities. Tech West Yorkshire is expected to launch a regional brand and marketing platform to promote the area’s technology sector to investors and international audiences, with the aim of becoming financially self-sustaining through sponsorship and private sector backing.
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- Learn more about Tech West Yorkshire / WYCA: https://www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk
