Number of Digital Jobs
Digital GVA
High Growth Firms
Startup Births
Average Advertised Digital Salary
Tech Sector Growth Potential

What's there

With technical expertise in aerospace and a history of microchip design, Bristol and Bath’s burgeoning digital tech cluster has deep roots.

Global businesses from these sectors are based in the region, including XMOS. Successes like these led Cray, the supercomputing expert to set up its European HQ in Bristol.

Digital skills are developed at the region’s four well-respected universities. Spinouts from them are numerous, including wireless specialists PowerWave and materials specialists NanoGaN. Meanwhile, The Bristol Robotics Laboratory is now the UK’s leading academic centre for robotics research.

What's new

The strength of the cluster’s robotics sector was illustrated by a multimillion investment in GraphCore, while Future Space hub has also opened, attracting UK robotics stars.

Game Boosters launched at the Engine Shed, while the latter also created Silicon Gorge, a network attracting investment for local digital tech startups.

The ‘Crowd10‘ campaign is helping companies to crowd fund growth capital and the University of Bristol launched the first round of their seed fund, UOBEF.

What's up next

Bristol has been chosen by Oracle to host one of its new global Startup Cloud Accelerators. Tech entrepreneurs with more scientific technologies are looking forward to the completion of Unit DX, a new lab space and science incubator. Meanwhile, the region’s aerospace industry is integrating new technology capabilities to create the next generation of aircraft, with Airbus launching a £40 million Wing of the Future Centre.

  • Henry Nurser

    CEO & Founder, Blu-Wireless

    What we do

    Blu Wireless develops and licenses unique wireless technology to major household names, and is fast becoming the default ‘engine’ to enable 5G telecom networks.

    Why Bristol & Bath?

    A high quality of life, heritage in engineering excellence and strong links to world-respected academic institutes make Bristol and Bath a perfect environment in which to build a knowledge-based company such as Blu Wireless.

  • Tom Carter

    CTO & Co-founder, Ultrahaptics

    What we do

    Engaged with the world’s biggest companies to revolutionise how we interact with our devices, Ultrahaptics enables people to feel virtual objects without needing to touch anything or wear special equipment.

    Why Bristol & Bath?

    Being based in Bristol, we have access to a large pool of leading digital tech talent. We also have close links to the strong ecosystem, having originally developed within the University of Bristol and SETsquared, the global #1 tech incubator.

Economic stats

35924 Number of Digital Jobs ?
4.35 Digital Concentration ?
1.7 billion Digital GVA ?
17% High Growth Firms ?
225 Startup Births ?
8.1 billion Digital Tech Turnover (millions)
47063 Average Advertised Digital Salary ?

Standard of living

7.45 Life Satisfaction ?
315,523 Average House Price ?
6.7 Housing Affordability Ratio ?

Cost of doing business

28.5 Commercial Rent Per Annum (£ sq/ft) ? More about commercial property

What local startups say is good

92% Overall Quality of Life
90% Strength of Digital Economy
88% Tech Sector Growth Potential

What local startups say is a challenge

70% Lack of Supply of Highly Skilled Workers
42% Limited Supply of Appropriate Property on Competitive Terms
32% Limited Opportunities to Access Finance
Download more details on survey responses for this cluster