Cambridge technology cluster is best in Europe, finds survey
The Cambridge region is ahead of the rest of Europe in terms of technology investment, a survey has revealed. The survey, carried out by financial advisors Grant Thornton, also challenges the view that technology companies stand a greater chance of success in the US than in the UK. According to the Grant Thornton report, the Cambridge cluster of technology firms based around the UK university received more than 25 per cent of the UK's venture capital investment and more than eight per cent of the European total in the first half of 2004. Furthermore, the report points out that average investment levels are between 57 per cent and 100 per cent higher in Cambridge than in the rest of the UK and Europe. 'The Cambridge Cluster is clearly going from strength to strength,' said Wendy Hart, national head of technology for Grant Thornton. On the subject of the UK's advantages in relation to the US, the report states that the UK, with its thriving and stable economy and flexible capital markets, its improving regulatory environment and increased state support for technology companies, makes a thriving location for technology. Some 48 per cent of UK hi-tech companies believe that the UK has the best regulatory environment in which their business can prosper, and only 11 per cent of the people interviewed were worried about the state of the economy, compared to 20 per cent in the US, adds the report.
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