Reading’s strong mix of tech businesses and a highly-skilled workforce sits at the heart of Europe’s largest tech cluster in the Thames Valley.
From global giants to high growth SMEs and tech starts ups, Reading’s tech sector specialises in software, telecoms, cyber security, cloud computing, big data and the Internet of Things. Reading is home to over 20% of the privately owned, independent top 100 tech companies in the South of England by turnover.
Reading has the highest digital density in the UK with nearly twice the density of its nearest competitor (Tech Nation 2017) and is the UK’s number 1 tech cluster.
EY estimate that the digital sector accounts for 25% of Reading’s productivity. Much of that success is powered by an international talent pool with 29% of the workforce in tech businesses in Reading coming from outside the EU (Savills 2017). Nesta's The Geography of Creativity report (2016) highlighted the major growth in employment in the creative sector in Reading with the second highest growth in employment in the UK after London. The creative sector in Reading employs more than 40,000 people across nearly 5000 businesses, making up 11% of total employment in Reading. The majority of this employment is in relatively large software businesses.
Many household names as well as new innovative businesses are based in Reading, including Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, Huawei, Open Text, Bullitt, Datasift, Verizon, Ultima Business Solutions, Pulsant, Atex, Gigamon, Halian, Symantec, Acision, Datto, Nvidia, Atos, Ericcson, Nokia.
Microsoft campus
