Jake Berry hase been named as the successor to Andrew Percy as Northern Powerhouse minister, the third MP to have taken the post since it was created two years ago. The MP for Rossendale & Darwen, Berry has replaced Andrew Percy, who stepped down from the role after less than a year in charge. Prime Minister […]

Four projects supporting the growth of businesses in the Leeds digital sector have been awarded a cut of nearly £2.7 million of funding. One of the schemes to be given the green light includes the creation of a new Tech Hub created at Platform, above Leeds railway station. Once open, the new Tech Hub will […]

Maven Capital Partners is opening an office in Preston following its appointment by the British Business Bank as fund manager for a new £57.5m Northern Powerhouse fund. The private equity firm said that its new office is ideally suited to provide additional investment and administrative resource for Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) investments and the […]

The 2017 Leeds Digital Festival has experienced a huge increase in the number of events compared to its first year in 2016. This year’s festival, will run to 29 April and involves approximately 115 events, up from 56 in 2016, with more than 10,000 attendees expected Hundreds of Leeds-based firms and speakers will be taking […]

Personalisation marketing tools provider Personalyze is heading to Portugal next week. The firm hopes to secure a $50,000 funding prize from Unilever after being nominated as one of the world’s top data start-ups. Andrew Ko from Personalyze is heading to the I-COM Global Summit in Porto, Portugal next week after his company was recognised by the […]

Established technology firms are being used by Cheshire East council chiefs as a model to inspire small creative and digital firms. Barclays’ Global Technology Centre, in Radbroke, and the Warner Bros-owned TT Fusion, in Wilmslow, are among the companies hailed by Cheshire East Council’s Skills and Growth Company following the creation of a new taskforce to promote the […]

Manchester University graduates Stuart Logan and Damien Shiells have raised £400,000 for Twine, an online platform that connects companies to creative freelancers. Twine connects companies to a network of over 195,000 freelance graphic designers, animators, musicians and filmmakers, by making it simple to write a project brief and curate the best quality creative freelancers for […]

European technology investment bank GP Bullhound has revealed the winners of the Northern Tech Awards 2017. The awards recognised the entrepreneurs and businesses leading growth of the northern digital economy over the past year. The winners were selected by a panel of high-profile judges, including Richard Flint, chief executive of Sky Betting and Gaming, David […]

The North East’s tech scene has been hailed as an economic success in a report that identifies tech salaries, growing companies and more than 30,000 high-skilled jobs. The Tech Nation report assessed technology sectors in 30 towns and cities and singles out Newcastle and Sunderland for praise. It values Newcastle technology cluster as more than £1bn, […]

James Bedford, head of investment at tech hub Tech North, told attendees that while technology is the fastest growing sector in the UK and has created the most jobs, the investment ecosystem was failing companies. He proposed: “There is a co-ordination failure as companies find it hard to find investment. And there is an information […]

The deadline for submissions for the Big Chip Awards until 5pm on Monday 20th March to enter. The Big Chip awards have celebrated excellence in digital and technology companies, organisations and individuals across the region for almost two decades – in areas including animation, search, user experience, eCommerce and digital transformation. Businesses, individuals and students from […]

Robin Terrell, former Chief Compliance Officer at Tesco, MD of both Amazon UK and John Lewis Direct, joins Cocoon as Chairman as the firm embarks on an equity crowdfunding campaign with CrowdCube. The campaign was launched on 1 February and currently stands at £1.68 million, so 67% of the £2.5 million target. First launched on […]

Investment company Mercia Technologies PLC has won two contracts to manage funds associated with the UK government’s ‘Northern Powerhouse’ scheme. Mercia said it won the contracts to manage a GBP57.5 million equity fund and a GBP51.0 million debt fund under the control of the state-owned British Business Bank. Mercia will deploy the funds via its […]

A Yorkshire technology company is aiming to capitalise on the fast-growing wearable tech market after securing several US and UK patents to integrate NFC chips into wearables, specifically jewellery that communicates with smartphones and chip readers. Wetherby-based Kiroco Technology has obtained the patents and is now working globally to develop applications, like contactless payments, activated by […]

Newcastle City Council and Invest Newcastle (a service delivered by NewcastleGateshead Initiative on behalf of Newcastle to attract and secure new investment and jobs for the city), have developed a strategy which will support and boost the tech and digital sector in Newcastle. The strategy follows a recent report by Auxin, a multi-disciplined business support […]