This week, as London Tech Week takes centre stage, tech leaders have descended on the capital and the government has put forward their direction of travel to support British technology companies to succeed. There’s a renewed effort to build a climate where domestic enterprise can thrive, driven by a commitment to back British ideas and the people behind them.
Every day we are witnessing a transformation of our industrial landscape. The historic Unilever factory at Bank Quay in Warrington was for more than a century a proud cornerstone of British soap-making. Today, that same site is being cleared and redeveloped into a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence data centre. Instead of leaving our industrial heritage behind, we are repurposing it to power the digital age. This bold development will bring highly skilled jobs back to the local community and ensure the UK maintains its strong position as the third largest technology economy in the world.
For the traditionalists in our regional towns and rural communities, this shift is something to embrace rather than resist. By weaving new technology into the fabric of our heritage products, we are preserving our history by future-proofing it. Homegrown technology has the power to revitalise rural Britain and support our vital agricultural sector too. Advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence are already being deployed to optimise farming production, improve crop yields, and strengthen local food supply chains. The government has recently announced AI and robotics to be fast-tracked into modern British farming. By equipping our British farmers with cutting-edge tools, we are boosting productivity and protecting the rural economy for generations to come.
We must have a fundamental belief in our own innovators. Our current Prime Minister has said the ambition is to create an environment “where we back the British businesses creating the jobs and technologies of the future.” To truly deliver this, the government must take a holistic approach that reaches all our cities, ensuring we champion the booming regional tech hubs in places like Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, and Bristol just as fiercely as we do the capital.
When we invest in homegrown talent and upgrade our regional infrastructure, the entire country benefits. The foundation for a stronger, more resilient economy is already being laid. Now is the time to back British business, and more specifically back British tech business, to secure that future.
