High-growth tech start-ups contribute a huge amount to our economy. But sometimes it’s hard to quantify exactly how much these Silicon Roundabout superstars plough into the country’s coffers. Fortunately research released today reveals that the rate of new jobs created by members of Future Fifty, a Tech City UK initiative that supports the cream of the crop of high-growth tech start-ups, are six times higher than the national average.
Timed to coincide with London Technology Week, the report reveals that members of the Future Fifty have increased their workforce by 30% over the last year, much higher than the national average of 5.4%. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those who benefitted most out of this jobs boom were software developers, who made up 57% of new hires at Future Fifty start-ups. Next came customer service and sales roles, making up 11% and 9% of hires respectively, whilst junior management, product management and logistics roles were less in demand, comprising 6%, 4% and 4% respectively.
However, it seems this isn’t the only vindication of Tech City UK’s programme. Its figures also revealed that Future Fifty firms have raised a combined total of £657m in funding since the programme’s inception in 2013, with £433m of that generated in the last year. On top of this, four of its members have gone public since the programme started: Horizon Discovery, Ao.com, Zoopla and Just Eat have raised a combined total of £1.18bn on London’s exchanges.
“Growth-stage companies are vital to the UK’s tech ecosystem,” commented Philipp Stoeckl, director of the Future Fifty programme. “As a leading source of innovation and jobs, it is important that we continue to attract and support the world’s most promising companies to grow and scale their businesses in the UK.”
Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said: “This data reflects our own research, confirming the explosive growth of the UK’s digital businesses. It’s an exciting time to be part of the UK’s digital community. Fuelled by record investment, we’re witnessing significant job creation in a maturing sector that is developing into one of the UK’s main employers.”
Evidently initiatives that support the successes of Britain’s silicon start-ups end up paying dividends for us all. 
