Following the recent launch of Tech Nation, we will be running a series of profile pieces on each of the digital clusters featured in the report.
Bournemouth & Poole is one of the UK’s fastest-growing digital clusters in terms of number of company registrations year on year from 2010-2013. With an increase of 212% in new digital companies incorporated between 2010-13, digital employment has now risen to over 7,000.
Along with an emerging community of app development agencies, digital marketing and advertising companies lead the way in the area. 67% of companies in Bournemouth & Poole reported that they feel part of the cluster when asked as part of the Tech Nation report, a community ethos which is encouraged by events such as the annual Bournemouth Silicon Beach Festival and Digital Day Bournemouth.
In addition to a great range of annual tech events in Bournemouth, cluster networks are boosted by co-working spaces available to startups such as Nest Space and Factory Studios. Startups are also provided with assistance from the Open Device Lab Bournemouth – the world’s largest – who have over 450 connected devices for anyone to test their products on.
Strength in the digital sector has been partly driven by the constant stream of skilled workers made available by the National Centre for Computer Animation at Bournemouth University, on top of the creative marketing agencies in the area which have acted as hubs for talent. Entrepreneurs also highlighted a high quality of life in Bournemouth as one of the main draws in choosing to set up there.
Silicon Beach Founder, Matt Desmier credits the community dynamic and vibrancy of the cluster, commenting, “Bournemouth has a vibrant network of meet-ups and events, feeding off its community of creative and app development agencies.”
Three local companies were profiled in the report:
To find out more information about Bournemouth & Poole’s digital cluster, download the Tech Nation report, view it online or visit our core project partner DueDil’s Online Interactive Guide on the area.