A Manchester-based CEO has called on the Government to use Wednesday鈥檚 Budget to shore up the Northern Powerhouse initiative as Brexit looms.
James Blake is CEO at Hello Soda, an international data analytics company which was only founded in 2013.
He is concerned that Britain鈥檚 decision to leave the European Union will impact on the regions鈥� tech offering.
鈥淎s a Northern business owner, I am keen to see significantly more support for the Northern Powerhouse initiative in this Budget,鈥� he said.
鈥淪ince the Brexit vote, it is even more important that the Government invests in regions and businesses outside of London.
鈥淎lthough the private sector is now working in partnership with Government to make the vision a reality, we still have a long way to go to ensure that the UK technology industry doesn鈥檛 fall behind and businesses aren鈥檛 forced to leave the UK.”
Hello Soda has experienced impressive听growth over the past 12 months after opening offices in Bangkok and Texas听and increasing its headcount by 120 per cent over the same period.
The company鈥檚 multilingual听Big Data and text analytics products are already used by organisations across the world to enhance their customer experience.
Blake is hopeful that the Budget – the first since the Brexit vote – can deliver for businesses back in Britain by strengthening in other areas, such as links with education.
鈥淎dditional announcements regarding transport or funding would certainly be well received, and anything that supports talent development in particular would be welcome,鈥� he continued.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure this is something all businesses across the region would agree with 鈥� particularly those in the technology sector.
鈥淚t would be brilliant to see Government encourage further collaboration and between business and education.鈥�
Luke Massie, managing director at Lancaster-headquartered Vibe Tickets, said he would like to see young firms supported.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to see the Chancellor offer more support to entrepreneurs and start-ups in the Budget,鈥� he said.
鈥淏uilding your own business is always challenging and so new sources of funding, additional tax relief or support channels would certainly be welcomed.
鈥淚nnovative start-ups offer great potential for future economic growth and so I鈥檇 hope that the government will continue to focus on facilitating this.鈥�听
Vibe describes itself as the first ethical marketplace app that connects fans so they can exchange live event tickets and interact with other like-minded fans across the world.
It was formed by Massie in response to the growing problem of ticket touts.