Ant and Chris talk to Stephen Kelly, the Chair of Tech Nation, a great UK institution that is helping drive and grow Digital in the UK. He discusses how now could become the golden time or age of UK Tech. Additionally, we dive into how Tech Nation is well placed as a platform to help drive UK companies to grow, scale and smash through the global barriers to become global champions.
Tech Nation is a big Technology organisation, which helps UK businesses attain access to talent and capital to drive growth. At this current time, Stephen feels very positive about the year ahead, the rich pipeline of UK IPO candidates (82 Unicorns and 125 "soon-a-corns") .. that could imminently list in London. Interestingly, in this post-Brexit world, he adds that many Canadian and European Technology companies could also potentially list in London too, as the home of Tech.
Stephen talks about how the Technology success stories will drive local ecosystems to emerge, which will guide future generations, something that Stephen saw during his time at Sage when this Technology success story helped drive a cluster of growth in Newcastle and the North East.
He also references how we should implement the Halo effect that was evident in abundance when he built a Technology company in Silicon Valley, that he took to a Nasdaq exit. He feels there is a real opportunity for Tech Nation to help foster and grow further tech clusters in the UK, where local heroes can build momentum from their Tech leadership and the wealth it brings in universities, schools, local business and the environment to help evolve widespread growth in Tech Britain. Inclusivity throughout the whole of the UK is key around the UK as we move beyond the pandemic.
In Conclusion, Tech Nation is looking to help drive and build the leaders of not just tomorrow, but the next 30-years, creating a UK Tech legacy for the future, driven by Education, Retraining, Net Zero, Innovation, better energy usage/consumption and many other initiatives they are helping shape and drive.
It’s a very optimistic and encouraging talk about the future and it appears we’re in a great pair of hands with Stephen, whose passion and humbleness is in abundance throughout the chat,
