Last week saw the publication of “all things bright & beautiful” in British Tech, aptly named as the Tech Nation’s Rising Stars report. Stephen is the leader of the orchestra and is at the helm of this very organisation and in this Vodcast / Podcast, he builds upon the enthusiasm and progress outlined in the report.

Stephen is helping shape, drive and grow the Digital ecosystem in the UK, through his new role in the Tech Nation organisation. He delves into many areas in what he believes is a golden time for UK Tech.

In our 50 minutes we dive into how Tech Nation is well placed as a platform to help drive UK companies to grow, scale and smash through the global barriers to become global champions.

Stephen praises the talent, reflected by the rich pipeline of UK IPO candidates (82 Unicorns and 125 “soon-to-be-corns” ((3 of which are Notwics clients)) .. that could imminently list in London. Interestingly, in this post-Brexit world, he adds that many Canadian and European Technology companies could also potentially list in London too, as it continues to be recognised as a core bedrock of the global technology ecosystem.

Stephen talks about the “Halo” Effect that he hopes to bring to UK regions, driving local ecosystems to emerge, for future generations, similar to what happened when he led Sage in Newcastle as CEO. This Technology success story helped drive a cluster of growth in Newcastle and overall economic growth in the North East.

He first learn’t about this “Halo” effect  when he built his first Start-Up in in Silicon Valley,  which had a Nasdaq exit. He now hopes this approach will become a strong trend in the 2020’s, as we emerge from the pandemic.

More specifically, these Technology local heroes can build momentum and next steps leading to growing wealth in universities, schools, local business and the ESG environment across the UK. Inclusivity, a key theme of Technology in the UK, is a big part of this as we move forward.

In conclusion,

Tech Nation is looking to help drive and build the leaders of not just tomorrow, but the next 30-years, creating a UK Tech legacy for the future, driven by Education, Retraining, Net Zero, Innovation, better energy usage/consumption and many other initiatives they are helping shape and drive.

It’s a very optimistic and encouraging talk about the future and it appears we are in a great pair of hands with Stephen, whose passion, vision and humbleness is in abundance, throughout the chat.