FinTech North joins forces with the North’s inward investment agencies at IFGS 2024 to fly flag for Northern FinTech excellence
FinTech North is delighted to exhibit at the tenth iteration of Innovate Finance Global Summit (IFGS) alongside the North of England’s inward investment agencies, including Invest North East England, Invest Newcastle, MIDAS – Manchester’s Inward Investment Agency, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Invest Liverpool City Region.
FinTech North’s journey was born out of a response to London FinTech centricity in 2016. FinTech North was created to unify the Northern FinTech community, to champion the continued growth of the North of England’s FinTech sector and to align this development nationally.
To that end, we’re grateful for the opportunity to exhibit at and support IFGS. We’ve worked with Innovate Finance on many of our own events in the past, so it’s brilliant to have the chance to return the favour and to showcase the vast amount of FinTech activity taking place in the North, in London. We recognise the great significance of IFGS as a platform for sharing UK FinTech sector updates, and the chance to further cement the North of England as an established centre for FinTech excellence.
FinTech in the North
Economically, the North boasts a robust FinTech ecosystem, with over 400 FinTech firms contributing significantly to the UK economy. Regional specialisms, such as WealthTech, Payments, RegTech, and Banking, align with historical industrial strengths in different cities. The North of England also holds vast access to talent, and is home to a plethora of top global universities. This thriving environment prompts calls for increased investment, talent development, and market access support.
We’ve joined forces to promote the North of England as a hub for FinTech excellence, as part of our ‘Expand Your FinTech North’ initiative.
The purpose of Expand Your FinTech North is to highlight the strengths of each main regional FinTech hub, including Manchester, Liverpool, West Yorkshire and the North-East, showcasing these regions as attractive destinations for FinTech and financial services organisations eyeing expansion.
Regional strategy consultancy, Whitecap Consulting have produced several ecosystem analysis reports for each regional FinTech hub.
Greater Manchester has key specialisms in payments and e-commerce, and is a base for nearly 150 active FinTech firms, spanning from home-grown start-ups to globally operating FinTechs including GFT and Starling Bank. Find out more about Greater Manchester’s FinTech ecosystem here.
The Liverpool City Region has an established FinTech ecosystem, generating £218.8 of GVA per year for the regional economy and is home to over 40 FinTech firms with key strengths in payments, WealthTech, InsureTech and accounting. FinTechs created in the Liverpool City Region include CIRCA5000 (formerly known as tickr), while firms such as Cashplus Bank and Swoop have recently expanded into the region. Find out more about The Liverpool City region here.
The Leeds City Region is home to over 100 FinTech firms, with strong expertise in banking, lending and RegTech. The region is also home to regulatory agencies, research centres, networks and events such as the Bank of England, Financial Conduct Authority, the UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment, Leeds Digital Festival, the largest tech festival in the UK outside of London and FinTech North. Find out more about Leeds City Region’s FinTech ecosystem here.
The North-East benefits from a fast evolving FinTech ecosystem, with a corridor of innovation running from Newcastle Upon Tyne to the historical university city of Durham. Home to over 90 FinTech firms, it has a mix of traditional financial services and a growing technology sector, creating a fertile ground for FinTech development. The region has expertise in Open Banking, Blockchain, Mortgages, Savings, Cybers and FraudTech. It also boasts several enterprise software development providers who have tech teams embedded in top-tier investment banks and SME’s. Find out more about the North-East’s ecosystem here.
FinTech North, alongside the group of inward investment agency representatives, has flown the flag for Northern FinTech at various national and international industry events in the past, including FinTech Connect 2019 and Money 20/20. At IFGS this year, we’re delighted to come together once more, providing a platform to truly showcase the North of England as an established centre for FinTech excellence.
You can find the FinTech North team and representatives from the North’s inward investment agencies at Booth 2. Come chat to us, get in touch and expand your FinTech North!
