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Expert blog: Growing Nottingham’s role as a leading hub for innovation in the FinTech sector

New data produced by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has identified the Nottingham city region as a cutting edge cluster of innovation and growth in the FinTech sector. Professor Jim Devlin and Professor Andrew Leyshon from the Centre for Finance, Technology and Society explain why this is so significant for the region, and how the University is helping to grow the skills needed to support the burgeoning sector.

    Woman on digital tablet, futuristic network overlay and iot cloud data communication hologram with blockchain coding technology. Future of cyber security, fintech software and information technology
    Nottingham has the capacity to play an important role as a significant regional FinTech centre in the UK

    The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, Michelle Donelan, describes clusters such as the one identified in Nottingham as “places where innovative businesses thrive, local people have high-quality jobs, and the public and private sector work together to create a more sustainable, resilient, productive and innovation-led economy.”

    According to the analysis, the Nottingham city region hosts a specialised FinTech Cluster that comprises of 188 FinTech related companies with a combined turnover of almost £1 billion. More than 4,000 people are employed in the sector in the county and that figure is likely to grow. The data shows only 29% of the companies included in the data for Nottinghamshire are in the “Established” stage of development.

    A far larger proportion (39%) are SMEs and 18% are start-up ventures - both categories are likely to provide further growth in turnover and employment in the future. In terms of scale, whilst Nottingham cannot match the level of activity of established FinTech centres such as London and Edinburgh, total FinTech activity is larger than that of Belfast, Merseyside or Cambridgeshire and roughly the same as that of Cardiff.

    James Devlin
    Professor Jim Devlin, Director of the Centre for Finance, Technology and Society

    In 2021 The Kalifa Report, an independent study commissioned by the UK government, identified FinTech as a source of competitive advantage for the UK’s financial services industry, not only within London but also in regional financial centres.

    These new data from DSIT shows that Nottingham has the capacity to play an important role as a significant regional FinTech centre in the UK, due to its existing concentration of firms, skilled labour and knowledge, as well as its dedicated infrastructure, such as Scale Space for example, which is a partnership between Blenheim Chalcott – a company that helps build digital ventures – and the University of Nottingham, which has established a FinTech & Data Innovation hub in the city to encourage business innovation and growth in this area.

    In Spring 2023, we launched the Centre for Finance, Technology and Society at Nottingham Business School with the strong backing of Nottingham Trent University so we are in an excellent position to develop this cluster of FinTech related growth in the region.

    Access to talent is well known to be a key driver of success in the FinTech area and courses in FinTech, Digital Finance and Data Analytics are providing graduates with the skills and expertise required to underpin further growth and innovation in the sector.

    Even before they graduate, students are working with local and regional companies, as well as internationally, to complete consultancy projects and internships that will further assist the sector to develop successfully.

    Added to that, staff with expertise in a broad range of FinTech related subjects stand ready to work with companies on joint research projects and other related activities.

    We are also particularly keen to hear from companies who may be interested in working in Knowledge Exchange Partnerships with us.

    Professor Jim Devlin, Director of the Centre for Finance, Technology and Society
    Professor Andrew Leyshon, Senior Fellow in the Centre for Finance, Technology and Society

    • Notes for editors

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      About Nottingham Trent University

      Nottingham Trent University (NTU) received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2021 for cultural heritage science research. It is the second time that NTU has been bestowed the honour of receiving a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its research, the first being in 2015 for leading-edge research on the safety and security of global citizens.

      The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent. 86% of NTU’s research impact was assessed to be either world-leading or internationally excellent.

      NTU was awarded The Times and The Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2023 and ranked University of the Year in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023. It was awarded Outstanding Support for Students 2020 (Times Higher Education Awards), University of the Year 2019 (Guardian University Awards, UK Social Mobility Awards), Modern University of the Year 2018 (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide) and University of the Year 2017 (Times Higher Education Awards).

      NTU is the 5th largest UK institution by student numbers, with approximately 40,000 students and more than 4,400 staff located across five campuses. It has an international student population of 7,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.

      Since 2000, NTU has invested £570 million in tools, technology, buildings and facilities.

      NTU is in the UK’s top 10 for number of applications and ranked first for accepted offers (2021 UCAS UG acceptance data). It is also among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was the first UK university to sign the Social Mobility Pledge.

      NTU is ranked the second most sustainable university in the world in the 2022 UI Green Metric University World Rankings (out of more than 900 participating universities).

    Published on 5 March 2024
    • Category: Press office; Research; Nottingham Business School