Claim your place as one of the North West’s Top Tech firms

Do you want to showcase your technology to the North West’s key influencers?

Or meet like-minded entrepreneurs in the burgeoning ecosystem to share ideas and knowledge?

Then claim your place as one of the North West’s Top Tech companies.

Entries are now open for the inaugural Top Tech: North West which has been launched in partnership with TheBusinessDesk.com.

Top Tech: North West is designed to showcase the region’s cutting-edge companies which have put the North West on the map as a world-class hub for technological development and innovation.

It follows the success of the Mills & Reeve Top Tech: Yorkshire which is now in its third year.

Top Tech: North West is open to companies which have developed world-leading technology, are disrupting markets and whose technology and services are helping others become leaders in their fields.

Entrants will be judged on technological innovation, leadership, growth and financial performance, client service and delivery and employee engagement.

Top Tech: North West will give companies access to some of the key players in the region’s ecosystem as well as like-minded entrepreneurs to share ideas and knowledge.

Top Tech: North West judge, Amul Batra, is chief partnerships officer at Manchester coding bootcamp, Northcoders.

Since opening its doors in 2016, Northcoders has seen around 600 students graduate from its courses, with 96% gaining employment across its 150-strong network of companies.

Its success stories include a former Manchester Piccadilly Station announcer gaining employment as a software developer and a farmer retraining as a data engineer.

Northcoders is immensely proud of its diversity, with around one third of graduates being women, and significant numbers from the BAME and LGBT communities.

Amul says that networks are vital for technology companies and, by collaborating and working together, businesses can create thriving ecosystems.

He says: “I decided to be a judge after seeing the success of Top Tech: Yorkshire which has created a real community among the entrants. Eight of the top 20 companies in Top Tech: Yorkshire are our clients, and we are proud to have our alumni employed at these businesses.

“They are excellent, multi-award-winning companies that have developed world-leading technology and deserved to be recognised.”

Top Tech: North West is a great opportunity for the region’s home-grown technology companies to showcase their success to help promote and further develop the sector in the North West.

Fellow judge, Dr Kath Mackay, is managing director at Alderley Park, part of Bruntwood SciTech and its network of innovation districts.

Kath says that investing in the ecosystem is a key focus of the Bruntwood SciTech strategy and is vital to ensure that the region’s booming technology and science communities continue to grow.

“Companies at our innovation campuses can tap into a range of benefits, for example, healthtech companies can gain access to clinicians and patients for testing and trials via our strategic partnerships with local hospital trusts.

“There are funding opportunities onsite such as the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Life Sciences Fund and we provide specialist innovation and business support services on each of our sites.

“We also invest heavily in the ecosystem and promote a sense of community. There is fantastic peer-to-peer support and the companies often collaborate both formally and informally with great success.

“This kind of collaboration is vital for the region’s technology and science communities to grow. Therefore, we are delighted to support Top Tech: North West. There is great innovation and entrepreneurialism out there and Top Tech: North West will give companies the opportunity to get together and share ideas and also provide a platform from which to shine and celebrate their achievements.”

Sarah Whyman, Mills & Reeve

Sarah Whyman, senior associate in the commercial IP, and /IT team at Mills & Reeve in Manchester, has advised tech companies for several years.

Last year she launched the ‘Inspiring Women in Technology’ initiative – a series of events headlined by inspiring women in technology who talk about their experience of working in the sector.

Sarah says: “We have held several events, more recently online, all of which have been well attended. The feedback we have received has been extremely positive with all agreeing that being part of a network of like-minded entrepreneurs individuals and advisers working in the tech sector to share experiences and challenges is invaluable.

“The Top Tech: North West is an opportunity for technology companies across the region to tap into each other’s networks and gain access to individuals and organisations who can help them realise their ambitions. We have received some excellent entries from companies which have developed cutting-edge technology, clearly demonstrating that the North West technology sector remains a hotbed of innovation.”

Entries will close on 6 November 2020. The companies who make it into the Top Tech: North West will be revealed on 7 December 2020. The report will be published on TheBusinessdesk.com and available for download.

To enter click Here

For further information visit Top Tech: North West