The time has come

 In news

The time has come,’ the Walrus said,

To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
Of cabbages — and kings —

But, on this occasion, let’s talk about technology and the internet of things…

Tech Nation UK

It’s always a pleasure for OPUS to see the pool of UK tech businesses flourish. A thriving tech hub in the UK is a reservoir of potential clients that want and need intellectual property protection. It also means the broker opportunity is ripe for harvest for those savvy enough to farm that particular crop.

To say the headwinds in 2020 for such farmers was strong, is to wildly understate the reality of Covid-19 and the restrictions its impact imposed on business activity. We were all affected and only a few positively. We’re not all Amazon or Zoom!

However, in tech, Britain triumphed yet again.

According to Tech Nation, the tax-funded body that promotes the UK’s tech industries and now in its seventh year, we had another blinding twelve months.

A word from our leader

In the words of Boris Johnson:

“It has been a year in which the brutal necessity of restricting human contact has escalated the importance of tech of all kinds…

So, it is perhaps not surprising that in spite of Covid – or even because of Covid – the UK is maintaining its lead as one of the world’s premier centres for tech of all kinds.” 

“This isn’t just great news for the entrepreneurs and thinkers and do-ers who make the British tech industry what it is”.. but a “silicon supercharge” for the UK economy.

Good-looking numbers

Let’s look at the key data from the report:

  • UK tech VC investment is third in the world, hitting a record high of $15bn in 2020 in the face of challenging condition.
  • The UK is more attractive to international investors than ever; 63% of investment into UK tech came from overseas in 2020, up from 50% in 2016.
  • The UK is third in the world for investment into impact tech, which has increased 160% since 2018 while in the US it rose by 15% over the same period
  • London is fourth for tech VC investment globally behind San Francisco, Beijing and New York at $10.6bn
  • The UK tech startup and scaleup ecosystem is valued at $585bn – 120% more than in 2017, and more than double the next most valuable ecosystem, Germany, at $291bn.
  • Tech is becoming more important for the UK economy. The rate of tech contribution to the UK economy has grown on average by 7% per year since 2016.

So, there you have it. World-competing, Europe-beating ever-increasing tech success. We live in a land of intellectual property milk and honey where unicorns roam (yes – really – a unicorn is a business worth more than $1b and we have quite a few).

Hit Repeat

As we said last year in our February post “Out there and living amongst us…” the tech sector is booming in the UK in all regions. Ideas and innovations abound, and they all need protection. The broker opportunity is vast. There is no better time to have ‘that IP conversation’ with your commercial clients on their IPI needs.

We’re here to help you. Just ask.

Murray Fairclough
Development Underwriter
OPUS Underwriting Limited 
+44 (0) 203 920 9985
underwriting@opusunderwriting.com
Written and researched by Ben Fairclough

 

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