Yorkshire has always been a place that makes things. Increasingly, that thing is technology – and the businesses, ideas and talent behind it are starting to attract the attention they deserve.
To mark the conclusion of this year's Top Tech Yorkshire programme, we've published a new report that both celebrates the region's growing tech community and offers a practical resource for the founders, investors and advisers building that community's future.
Why we created it
Top Tech Yorkshire is the annual programme we established to connect the region's technology businesses with the network of expert mentors, investors and advisers they need to lay solid foundations and grow. Each edition brings together a cohort of ambitious, fast-growth companies and surrounds them with the people who can help them on their way. To date, the programme has supported more than 80 Yorkshire-based tech firms.
As this year's programme draws to a close, we wanted to step back and take in the bigger picture of the region they (and so many other ambitious businesses) are growing and thriving in. The result is detailed analysis of the regional tech economy combined with first-hand perspectives from the people who know it best.
What we found
Our research confirmed what those who live and work here already sense, Yorkshire and the Humber is an innovation economy with real depth and growing momentum. A few of the findings that stood out:
- World-class research, turned into companies. The University of Leeds sits among the UK's top 10 universities for spinouts, with Sheffield and York adding further depth, and almost all of the region's spinouts are rooted in high-growth science such as medicine, life sciences and engineering.
- The UK's deepest data and AI talent pool. The region produces more data science graduates, and hosts more AI students, than anywhere else in the country, drawing on around 43,000 graduates from its seven universities each year.
- A fast-growing workforce. The number of tech roles in Leeds has risen 46%, with the city's digital tech sector growing 125% faster than the national average and cybersecurity roles bucking the national trend.
- Momentum and backing. Grant funding into the region surged 156%, the highest growth of any English region, while the government has designated West Yorkshire a high-growth opportunity area for data and AI.
- A broad, distinctive base. Leeds anchors the region with around 4,000 active tech firms, supported by clusters from Sheffield's games studios to fast-growing hubs in York, Bradford and Hull.
These are strong foundations. The opportunity now is to build on them by connecting the region's founders with the funding, expertise and networks that help good companies become great ones. That is precisely what Top Tech Yorkshire exists to support.
The voices behind the report
Alongside our own analysis, we're grateful to the regional leaders, investors and specialists who shared their insight in the report. These include:
- Sarah Tulip digital, ambassador for Leeds City Council and chair of Leeds Digital Forum, on the state of the region and the collaborative culture that sets it apart.
- Rob Johnson from BGF highlighting what draws growth capital to Yorkshire and what makes a tech business investable.
- PNX Venture’s Dr Elizabeth Young who explores how the regional scene has matured, and what investors look for in a founder.
- Andrew McKinlay patent attorney and partner at Page White Farrer on getting your patent strategy right early, and the pitfalls founders most often miss.
The report also turns to the people at its heart, the participants in Top Tech Yorkshire 2026, in their own words. Among them is AUDITSU, a standout success story whose journey from one founder's frustration to a funded, revenue-generating platform with paying customers shows exactly the kind of talent the region is now producing.
Why this matters to us
At Mills & Reeve, our day job is providing legal advice and support to our clients. But we believe service providers to the tech sector have a broader role to play, connecting the people and businesses who can help each other.
We have deep roots in Yorkshire and a fast-growing local technology practice, backed by an established national one with foundations in supporting the Cambridge technology community. We believe the Yorkshire technology sector has the talent, ambition and application to keep achieving great things.
Top Tech Yorkshire, and this report, are central ways we play our part – bringing our own expertise to the table, and creating a platform for others to share theirs.
Read the full Top Tech Yorkshire 2026 report.
To find out more about the programme, visit the website.
Our content explained
Every piece of content we create is correct on the date it’s published but please don’t rely on it as legal advice. If you’d like to speak to us about your own legal requirements, please contact one of our expert lawyers.