Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has heralded the launch of a “world-class tech cluster” across the northern cities of Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield Newcastle, and Liverpool.

The scheme, called “TechNorth”, has the goal of attracting inward investment to these cities, as well as their surrounding regions, wih support for 20,000 existing businesses across the North through pooling of their resources and ideas.

This will involve schemes for up-skilling and working with start-ups to help them access funding.

In advance of his announcement at a tech hub in Sheffield, Nick Clegg said:

“We’ve listened to local business leaders and there is a clear need for us to seize an opportunity to capitalise on existing tech talent by creating a Northern Tech Hub to rival Berlin, New York, or Shanghai.

“My ambition, over time, is to double the number of tech jobs in the North, creating a stronger economy. To put this in context – it is estimated there are about 200,000 ICT jobs in the region currently.

“Time is of the essence, so I’m in Sheffield today to bring creative minds from across the North together so that we can grow this from an idea into reality.

“As a first step, I am announcing the creation of TechNorth, an agency tasked with promoting a world-class tech cluster spanning five cities in the North.”

This initiative ties in with the Deputy Prime Ministers Northern Futures project, launched in July 2014.

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Words: Peter Cribley