According to data by job search engine Adzuna and Tech Nation, the UK network for ambitious tech entrepreneurs, 26% of available jobs in the region are tech roles, with only Belfast matching this demand in number.
For potential employees looking to work for some of the area’s world-class tech companies, the remuneration is particularly high. The median salary for digital tech roles within the UK is £39,000 but the average advertised salary for open IT positions in Cambridge is £51,225. In contrast, the average salary in the university city is £42,125.
The figures on Cambridge’s tech sector are published as Tech Nation and the Digital Economy Council host a digital event today (3 November) as part of a national series of roundtable discussions. Hosted by Saul Klein, founding partner of LocalGlobe, the lunchtime discussion will bring together tech founders, leading executives, policy makers, and investors in Cambridge to discuss the challenges posed by the current crisis.
The learnings will be fed back to the DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport).
Fast-growing companies in the region need data scientists in particular, with 107 vacancies across companies including Amazon, Microsoft, Premier IT and AstraZeneca. Data scientists are also some of the most highly-paid in Cambridge, with an average salary of £58,759, an increase of 32.7% from 2019. This reflects the wider landscape across tech clusters in the UK, with data being one of the most-sought after skills by employees across the country.
These healthy figures demonstrate the strength of the tech sector in Cambridge. With 86 startups and scaleups calling the region home, VC investment reached $612.9m in 2019, up from $466.2m the year before.
The University of Cambridge alone has helped to produce more European companies and founders than any other UK university, including four European unicorns and seven semi-unicorn companies. While the successes of cyber security startup Darktrace, WorldPay and Cambridge Silicon Radio are well-known thanks to their billion-dollar valuations, all eyes are on the city’s potential unicorns, including a growing number of biotech and pharmaceutical companies, such as Artios Pharma, Inivata, Crescendo Biologics, and rare disease drug discovery platform Healx.
Digital Secretary Caroline Dinenage said: “As the UK looks to recover from the pandemic, the work of the world-class companies and talent in Cambridge will be crucial.
"The city has already produced five billion-dollar 'unicorn' firms and it continues to punch well above its weight - creating new jobs and opportunities for people.
“I am delighted some of the country’s leading tech talent are coming together to discuss the growing demand for jobs and skills in the area and how we can help further strengthen the UK’s reputation as Europe’s leading tech player."
Dr George Windsor, Head of Insights, Tech Nation said: “Cambridge is one of the most attractive cities in the UK for tech employees thanks to a mix of exceptional companies, increasing demand for talent, and high salaries. This event will be an interesting opportunity to bring together founders, policy makers and investors alike to learn what needs to be done to help Cambridge, and the rest of the UK, to succeed despite this year’s obstacles.”
Andrew Hunter, co-founder, Adzuna: “Data scientists looking for work in Cambridge have their pick of options, with attractive salaries and increasing job vacancies, proving that the city is an exciting and innovative place to work. From global tech giants to small startups, Cambridge’s tech industry is only on the up and this data reflects that.”
Claire Ruskin, Executive Director of Cambridge Network, commented: "Cambridge continues to attract and deploy large numbers of talented people to create leading edge products – Cambridge Network shows a continuing stream of opportunities, plus introductions and shared training to make sure people can do the very best work of their lives here in Cambridge. We’re delighted to see Healx as a TechNation example, growing well after Tim and his team participated in our School for Scale-Ups programme.”
Mark Richer, CEO, StarLeaf said: “StarLeaf was started in Cambridge and the success of the company is intrinsically linked to the academic resources, pool of talent and entrepreneurial spirit that the city has in abundance. Yet, the growing competition for skilled workers is an issue every tech CEO faces. It’s more important than ever to have these discussions to help Cambridge and its companies be prepared for the future.”
Dr Tim Guilliams, CEO, Healx, said: “Cambridge is, and always has been, a hub of innovation. Being part of the Cambridge Cluster, Europe’s largest technology cluster, is a great privilege and gives us access to an incredible pool of mentors, employees and investors who want to support us in our mission of bringing novel therapies to rare disease patients across the globe.”
Case studies
Of all the industries ripe for an AI-powered shake up, the legal sector has been up there with finance for its disruption potential. All those long contracts and complicated terminology make it perfect for upheaval, something Tim Pullan and Dom Hudson agreed on when they launched their legal tech startup ThoughtRiver in 2015.
The company reviews and rates contracts via a contract intelligence agency, focusing on pre-signature contracts with the aim of securing a deal and using AI to automate the legal work and boost operational efficiency. ThoughtRiver has raised $15 million in funding so far from the likes of Octopus Ventures, LocalGlobe and Entree Capital.
Now in its fifth year, ThoughtRiver counts PwC, G4S and DB Schenker amongst its 25+ global customers. With offices in New York, Singapore, London and Auckland, as well as its native Cambridge, the company achieved 400% year-on-year growth, no mean feat given the current global predicament.
Expansion is high on the list of plans. ThoughtRiver has hired around 10 people in the last year, with plans to hire at least 20 more over the next 12 months. Remote work is on the cards, but the founders do hope to bring people back to the office if and when they can. In particular, the company is looking for product management and channel creation skills, alongside a host of technical and commercial roles. It can take between two weeks and six months for the team to fill a vacancy, with the competition very high for technical and top engineering skills in the Cambridge area.
Despite the competitive hiring nature in the city, there are lots of benefits to being in Cambridge: good transport links, quality of life for employees, international connections and university expertise. ThoughtRiver has one-off partnerships with Cambridge University, such as with the Computer Lab, and the founders are big fans of the highly mature innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem of the city.
“The early development of the ThoughtRiver concept was done in Singapore. But to make it successful there was only ever one country to grow a legal tech business – the UK. And when I looked at it closely, there was only one City for ThoughtRiver – Cambridge,” they said.
As anyone in Cambridge will tell you, the city is ripe for technological innovation, in part thanks to its world-class university. Hundreds of successful startups and spin-outs have been created within its walls, and high-growth company Healx is one of them.
The AI-powered drug discovery platform for rare diseases was founded in Cambridge in 2014, after CEO Dr Tim Gulliams completed his PhD at the university. Along with co-founder and chairman Dr David Brown, who helped discover viagra, Healx’s AI develops drug combinations from approved drugs to find more effective treatment for diseases such as Muscular Dystrophy, Angelman Syndrome and Covid-19. So far, the company has raised $67.9m from the likes of Atomico, Intel Capital and Balderton Capital.
Since the start of 2020 over 20 people have joined the Healx team, including former Monzo CTO Meri Williams. The company says it is hoping to further expand significantly in the next 12 months, with a particular focus on tech and data roles, in order to build the best tools to identify possible treatments for rare diseases. With a HQ in Cambridge, Healx is part of the Europe’s largest technology cluster, a fantastic ecosystem of more than 5,000 firms and around 61,000 people working in tech which offers an incredible pool of mentors, employees and investors. The university plays its part too in helping these potential unicorns, with the Cambridge Judge Business School’s accelerator, Accelerate Cambridge, that helps future founders turn their visions into reality.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay