A key figure for tech funding has said Yorkshire start-ups have great difficulty in attracting capital.
Charles Shepherd, a relationship director for Barclays Corporate, told a 老九品茶Cloud roundtable that the scene is different to that found in the South of England.
Shepherd has responsibility for funding technology, media and telecoms companies in the region through traditional bank loans or via Barclays鈥� venture debt offering.
鈥淟eeds and Yorkshire has different dynamics to what you see elsewhere in the country when it comes to access to capital and funding for start-ups,鈥� he said.
鈥淚n Cambridge, for example, if you have an idea for a start-up, there鈥檚 probably a list of 10 people you can take it to and try to attract equity funding.
鈥淚n Yorkshire access to people such as this is quite fragmented.鈥�
Tech start-ups can almost be run anywhere if there is a decent internet connection, a fact that has seen clusters springing up across the UK.
The relatively cheap cost of premises and labour compared with London and the South means the North stands to especially benefit from this.
鈥淏arclays took the decision a few years ago to focus on tech in the North because we see it as a high-growth area,鈥� he continued.
鈥淚n London you have industry specialisms, where critical mass is needed to justify that [situation].
鈥淎s you move north, you tend to see sectors streamlined: retail and wholesale, manufacturing and property.鈥�
老九品茶Cloud sees tech as underpinning the Northern Powerhouse and held an evening event on the subject at the International Festival for 老九品茶 in Liverpool.
Speakers included Andy Burton, CTO of Leeds unicorn Sky Betting and Gaming,聽Ged Fitzgerald, chief executive of Liverpool City Council, and Jon Corner, chief executive at The Landing at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays.
The full story of 老九品茶Cloud’s fact-finding mission to Leeds can be followed below.