Scotland’s digital roles grow by over 25% year on year
Scotland’s tech sector is going through a rapid growth according to the UK’s Secretary of State for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
New figures released today show tech jobs in Glasgow and Edinburgh have increased by more than 25% in the past two years, way above the UK’s average.
According to Adzuna IT-related vacancies account for 13% of all UK job vacancies whilst this number is 30% in Edinburgh and 28% in Glasgow.
Today 135,000 people are employed by Scottish tech startups and scaleups. This is the 3rd highest number in the UK after the South East and London.
Software developers and data scientists are in high demand fo r the tech sector. Developers in Edinburgh and Glasgow can command an average salary of £45,000 or £55,000 for more senior positions.
There is an increasing demand for senior-level employees across all areas of Scottish tech. For instance, 89% of available roles for IT System Architects are all for senior positions.
Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries said:
“Scottish tech is booming and this thriving sector is creating exciting opportunities up and down the country.
“The UK government is determined to see this success continue and is investing heavily to help people in Scotland get the skills they need to seize the opportunities on offer and build back better from the pandemic.”
2021 is also a great year for investment with UK Tech companies having raised £13.5 billion in the first half of this yearend Scotland raising £446 million, the highest number so far.
Fintech is one of the biggest sectors for fundraising in the UK generally and in Scotland more specifically. The biggest fundraising round in 2021 so far was for the Kirkcaldy-based fintech Paysend, which raised £90.5m in Series B funding.
Dr George Windsor, Head of Insights at Tech Nation said:
“Edinburgh is proving to be one of the fastest-growing tech cities in the UK, with a higher number of opportunities and salaries compared to other cities. Glasgow is also making a name for itself as a destination for tech workers, with some of the best cost of living standards compared to the median tech salary of the whole UK. With scaling companies in sectors such as fintech and health tech, Scotland’s tech sector is only expected to grow in the next few years.”
Photo by ThisIsEngineering from Pexels
Festival of Fintech Innovation Shaping the Emerging Digital Economy
A rich diversity of innovative participants and initiatives will be showcased at this year’s fintech festivals in Scotland which gets underway from today
For the next 4 weeks, Scotland will be the stage of more than 50 events bringing alive the burgeoning impact of fintech leaders and capabilities which are shaping many elements of the emerging digital economy.
The festival, organised under the umbrella of Fintech Scotland, is in its fourth year and will build on the impactful platform of previous years in demonstrating how financial innovation is supporting citizens, business, regulators and government build towards economic and social recovery after the pandemic.
This year’s festival is even more diverse with a broad range of innovation themes and participants form fintech entrepreneurs, large global enterprises, universities, the public sector and the regulator, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is hosting half a dozen events on topics such as cryptocurrency, sustainability and the regulatory sandbox.
The festival has a significant global reach with participation organised with fintech innovators in the USA, Europe, Australia working in conjunction with Scottish Development International and UK Govt Department of International Trade.
The formal kick off is the Fintech Summit, a hybrid online and in person event at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh organised by online publisher Digit
The festival will conclude on the 14th of October with an all-day in person UK wide FinTech Conference at the University of Strathclyde Technology & Innovation Centre organised by Canongate Publishing and The Times.
This high-profile event hosted by Fintech Scotland, well bring together speakers from across the UK fintech centres in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as presentations from UK Government and Scottish Government Ministers and Ron Kalifa, the author of the Treasury’s recently commissioned Fintech Review.
Nicola Anderson, CEO at FinTech Scotland said:
“We’re looking forward to connecting with colleagues as we welcome the return of some face-to-face events as well as a variety of digital and virtual events. The range of topics, contributions and organisations taking part really demonstrates the breadth, expertise and diversity that drives fintech innovation in Scotland.”
Fiona MacKinnon, responsible for business events at VisitScotland said:
“We’re delighted to once again support the FinTech Scotland Festival. It’s an opportunity to come together to learn, connect and collaborate both virtually and face to face. This year we’re extending a warm welcome to delegates from over 30 countries and look forward to learning from a global community and sharing our own knowledge and expertise.”
The power of FinTech responding to the world’s worst humanitarian crises
Photo: Nur Jahan* and her daughter Ismat* (names changed to protect identity) live in the world’s largest refugee camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. DEC funds have helped provide them and thousands of other Rohingya refugees with handwashing facilities and advice on how to stay safe from Covid-19. – Credit: Fabeha Monir/Oxfam
Article written by Huw Owen, External Relations Manager, Scotland for DEC – Disasters Emergency Committee
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When large-scale disasters hit countries without the capacity to respond, the DEC brings together 14 leading UK aid charities to raise funds quickly and efficiently.
In these times of crisis, people in life-and-death situations need our help and our mission is to save, protect and rebuild lives through effective humanitarian response.
Pooling our resources to work as one, we are pivotal in co-ordinating the UK public’s response to overseas disasters. In collaboration with our Rapid Response Network of national media and corporate partners, we raise the alarm to the UK public and set up easy ways to donate.
And we have immediate impact, getting aid to people who need it, fast.
Our current Coronavirus Appeal is funding work in eight countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, DR Congo, India, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. This includes six of the world’s most fragile states, the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, and India, which was hit by the worst outbreak of Covid-19 yet seen during the pandemic in April and May 2021.
Millions of people living in fragile states have little access to medical care or clean water, making them much more vulnerable to new, more contagious variants of coronavirus.
But in many countries the economic effects of the pandemic could be even more deadly than the virus itself as millions of people are pushed towards famine due to falling incomes and rising food prices. Hunger can be particularly devastating for children, leading to malnutrition which in the worst cases can be fatal.
The DEC is focused on
- supporting fragile health systems with PPE, equipment, and isolation and medical care facilities
- helping to give vulnerable families the means to protect themselves with water, soap, handwashing stations and information
- ensuring that the Covid-19 crisis doesn’t mean people go hungry and children become malnourished.
The UK banking and FinTech sector has had a big impact on the success of this appeal. There are several actions that corporate partners can take in support of DEC Appeals, but probably the most powerful by far is a combination of what we call “Amplify” – getting the word out to customers, clients and the public at large; and “Experience” – creating innovative new donation channels for the appeal. This combination of Amplify X Experience has delivered incredible results by raising millions of pounds in vital humanitarian aid for the people who need it most. Here are some examples of successful partnerships in this space:
The NatWest Group introduced a notification within its banking apps, prompting users to donate to the DEC Coronavirus Appeal, with incredible results.
The notification was live between October 2020 and January 2021 in the NatWest and Royal Bank apps, and raised an incredible £356,000 for the appeal. It went live again when the DEC extended its appeal to include India as a devastating surge of coronavirus overwhelmed the country, raising an additional £225,421 for India over three months.
Revolut also featured the DEC Appeal in their app ”“ Revolut has a dedicated Donations section, where over 30,000 Revolut customers have donated £262,000 to the DEC Coronavirus Appeal for India.
The DEC’s collaboration with PayPal Giving Fund has helped raise millions of pounds to benefit our appeals: in the 2019 DEC Cyclone Idai Appeal an incredible £1,320,000 was raised for emergency response, as strong winds and widespread flooding ripped apart roads, bridges, houses, schools, and health facilities and submerged vast swathes of agricultural land. Across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, at least 900 people were killed and around three million were left in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.
PayPal amplify DEC appeals by sending email communication out to all opted-in PayPal customers at appeal launch. PayPal helps improve supporter experience by creating dedicated fundraising pages and using their “Give at Checkout” initiative. With this simple yet incredibly effective action, almost £1,000,000 was raised to benefit the DEC Coronavirus Appeal.
You can help us to build on these partnerships, harnessing the significant outpouring of concern and generosity that the UK public shows in the face of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Get in touch with the team at partnerships@dec.org.uk, we’d love to hear from you and explore how your FinTech can be a part of the UK’s life-saving response to international disasters.
Growing FinTech Community Driving Digital Economic Transformation through the pandemic
FinTech Scotland announce 50% Plus Growth of Scottish Fintech SMEs and a New Entrepreneur Advisory Board
The number of Scottish Fintech SMEs has increased by over fifty per cent during the eighteen months of the pandemic with the FinTech Scotland entrepreneurial community growing from 119 in March 2020 to 181 today.
The growth in the innovative enterprises reflects the increase in demand for financial technologies as more and more of the economy and society adapts to a digital environment driven by the challenges of the pandemic.
The news of the growth comes as FinTech Scotland announces a SME Advisory Board made up of leaders from the fintech entrepreneurial community focused on ensuring the necessary support is in place to continue the momentum of fintech innovation
Initially, the Advisory Board focus on providing impetus on skills development, experience when it comes to accessing funding and commercialisation opportunities.
The Advisory Board includes a diverse range of founders and leaders; Jude Cook (ShareIn), James Varga (DirectID), Loral Quinn (Sustainably), Anthony Rafferty (Origo), Pardeep Cassells (AccessFintech), Andrew Duncan (Soar), Andrew Veitch (EedenBull), Stuart Lunn (LendingCrowd) and Russell Jaques (Fin-Q).
Stephen Ingledew, Executive Chairman at FinTech Scotland and Chair of the Fintech Advisory Board said,
“There is growing recognition of the valuable role fintech in contributing to the digital economy, therefore, formally bringing together prominent group of entrepreneurs signifies Fintech Scotland ongoing commitment to ensure the best support is available for innovative enterprises in Scotland”
Jude Cook Co-Founder of ShareIn added:
“It’s great to see more entrepreneurs joining the FinTech Scotland community. Scotland is such an interesting place to be in the run up to COP26 climate negotiations here in Glasgow in November. Fintech has a vital role to play as we emerge from the COVID 19 pandemic.”
Nicola Anderson CEO of FinTech Scotland said:
“We are focused on supporting fintech innovation in Scotland and the number of fintech SME’s establishing themselves here is a testament to the talent and experience across the Cluster. This Board helps us build on that talent and expend the practical fintech expertise that continues to build and evolve in Scotland”
AutoRek selected by Superscript for Bordereau Reconciliations & CASS 5 Automation
Scottish fintech AutoRek just announced that Superscript would come on board as a new client.
Established in 2015, Insurtech Superscript is disrupting the business insurance distribution model, placing customers at the core of their business. It uses a flexible monthly subscription model suited to the fast-changing needs of today’s small businesses. With Superscript, customers can obtain quotes, set-up their cover in minutes, pay, modify, or cancel their cover any time, easily.
Autorek will be used by Superscript and become part of their digitally driven architecture to deliver end-to-end automation and to enable the business to scale and meet its exciting growth plans.
Gordon McHarg, CEO at AutoRek, added,
“We are delighted to have a client such as Superscript come on board. It is an exciting time for both Superscript and AutoRek in terms of growth plans and we look forward to collaborating on this project and building on our relationship.”
Piers Williams, Insurance Lead at AutoRek, added,
“We are excited to work with the team at Superscript, particularly as they are strong players in the new wave of digitally driven Insurance firms. We have built our Bordereau solution based on the market need and are looking forward to working with the team at Superscript to implement our market leading solution to deliver end-to-end automation.”
Anil Sharma, Chief Financial Officer at Superscript, said:
“Superscript has ambitious growth plans, and we are scaling quickly. As we are managing an increasing amount of policy transactions, the implementation of AutoRek’s technology will help increase efficiency for the finance team. Importantly, it can be incorporated seamlessly and will be a useful addition to our existing systems.”
Big win for Scottish Fintech Origo
Origo is delighted that Capgemini and Origo have been appointed to supply the central digital architecture for the Pensions Dashboards Programme and will be working with the PDP to help deliver the service for the benefit of UK pensions holders.
Announced by the Pensions Dashboards Programme and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) on 6 September 2021, the contract was awarded to Capgemini, who will partner with Origo to deliver the specified elements of the central digital architecture, namely the pensions finder service, consent and authorisation service and governance register, which will form a key part of the pensions dashboard ecosystem.
Origo has been fully committed to progressing pensions dashboards from the day the project was announced. Our 30-year history has been about delivering ground-breaking technology to make financial services more efficient and cost effective, and improve outcomes for savers and investors.
PDP stated that the Capgemini/Origo bid was successful “due to its quality and value for money, plus the credibility and expertise of both parties to deliver the contract.”
The procurement process
The procurement followed an extensive period of engagement by the PDP, with both the pensions industry and potential suppliers, which shaped the development of the technical requirements. This included several market engagement exercises and webinars to explain how the digital architecture will work and the policy background to the programme.
The five-month procurement started with the invitation to tender in April this year. The open and transparent process, used Lot 4a (Programmes and large projects ”“ covering Government official security classification) of the Crown Commercial Service Technology Services 2 framework agreement. This approach complies with all necessary government spend controls and provided a speedy, effective method to procure the digital architecture.
The successful conclusion to the procurement marks the end of the first phase of the Pensions Dashboards Programme, and is a major step towards bringing pensions dashboards to life. The programme now moves into its develop and test phase, as indicated on the PDP programme timeline. The focus now shifts to building the software elements that will make pensions dashboards work and testing the ecosystem, with the volunteer organisations that have signed up to be part of the testing phases.
Richard James, Programme Director of the Pensions Dashboards Programme at MaPS, commented on the day of the announcement: “Today’s announcement of a digital technology supplier marks the moment when dashboards move off the drawing board, and become real. I’m delighted to partner with Capgemini and Origo, who really impressed us with the quality of their bid; and whose deep pensions industry expertise coupled with extensive experience of delivering major programmes makes them superb partners for the programme. PDP now formally moves into its delivery phase, and I am looking forward to working with our new supplier, and across the industry, to make a success of pensions dashboards, and enable individuals to take control of their retirement planning.
Paul Margetts, Managing Director of Capgemini in the UK echoed our own delight “to have been chosen as the digital technology partner to build the core architecture and support the significant milestone of bringing pensions dashboards to life.” He added: “We believe our success is founded not only upon our expertise and deep capabilities but also through our strategic collaboration with Origo, who is dedicated to improving the financial services industry’s operating efficiencies. We are looking forward to working with the Pensions Dashboards Programme to support them in delivering a seamless service that will allow UK pension holders the control and visibility to take action and plan for the future.”
Concept to reality
Guy Opperman, Minister for Pensions, said that the announcement was “a crucial milestone for the dashboards programme, taking things to the next phase, where the concept starts to become a reality.
He added: “We’ve already put in place the primary legislation needed to pave the way for pensions dashboards. Now the programme, in partnership with Capgemini and Origo, can start to implement the technical elements, bringing the delivery of the first functioning dashboards even closer.
“I have previously urged pension schemes to get their data ready for dashboards. My message remains ”“ schemes should be improving their data quality as part of their preparations for participating. The clock is ticking and this achievement is yet another reminder that schemes must be getting ready to connect.”
Anyone interested in keeping up to date with programme updates and future call for inputs can sign up to receive the monthly Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) newsletter, and following PDP on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Discovering the Digital Technology Education Charter
The uptake of Computing Science in schools has fallen dramatically over the last decade, along with the rapid decline of Computing Science teachers numbers in Scotland and there are now too many schools in Scotland that do not offer the subject
In contrast, Scotland has an exciting digital tech sector with excellent tech courses at college and university, and an enormous amount of goodwill to help inspire the next generation into the world of tech.
To give you some context behind the motivation of the charter. In Scotland Computing Science at schools is a subject that has experienced a dramatic decline and currently had a very low uptake of pupils picking the subject, a widening gender gap and a decline in Computing Science teacher numbers. There has been a consistent downward trend over the past two decades, it is extremely alarming as the figures below go someway to illustrating;
2001 – 28,393 pupils were studying the subject at schools. As of 2020, we only have 10,228.
2001 – 9,825 females were studying the subject at schools. As of 2020, we only have 2,388.
Computing Science at schools needs immediate attention before it is too late, which I fear is a lot closer than we think.
I am hoping you can help me try to reverse this situation, help inspire the next generation and take part in our National campaign.
The Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review, authored by Mark Logan highlighted a number of challenges Scotland faces with regard to Computing Science at school and puts education at the heart of the solution. The Digital Technology Education Charter recognises that if industry and education can work more closely together and join forces we can make a real impact.
This charter is for individuals, schools, colleges, universities, and organisations of all sizes from all sectors. If you want to do more to help inspire the next generation and encourage them to choose Computing Science then join our charter. Together we can do more, we can make a difference.
Get involved here
Looking forward to a month of events
Welcome to September! I’m excited to write this month’s blog post where we highlight the 2021 FinTech Scotland Festival.
September is always a month the FinTech Scotland team look forward! It’s a time to celebrate fintech, learn about developments, meet new people, and reconnect with old friends who are driving forward fintech innovation across Scotland and across the world.
This year we’re especially grateful to be able to welcome back more in person, and face to face events as we continue to emerge from the necessary restrictions over the last 18 months.
The festival kicks off on the 16th of September with the DIGIT FinTech Summit and concludes with the Times Scotland and Canongate Publishing event on actions and initiatives to drive global fintech leadership on the 14th of October.
For the first time in a long time, we’ll get to see people in person! We’ll experience the atmosphere and energy that comes from fintech innovation and specifically through the people that make fintech.
Fintech entrepreneurs and leaders will share their experiences and talk about the innovations shaping financial services and the future digital economy. We’ll hear from Nucleus, Sustainably and LendingCrowd on their thoughts about the opportunity fintech continues to present and about the fintech Cluster in Scotland. Soar, MoneyMatix and Exizent will give views on the opportunities for fintech to contribute to building back better post COVID. Fintechs such as Pour, Striver, Women’s Coin, Amiqus, Modulr and Gigged.ai also plan to share their experiences and ambitions for the future.
We’ll be hearing directly from fintech entrepreneurs on topics such as fast-tracking innovation, the future of crypto, how blockchain is transforming society, avoiding team burnout in fintech and how to scale a fintech! YES and YES!
The diverse mix of events and topics covered during the festival continue to demonstrate the breath of opportunity and significant range of contribution that makes fintech unique, inclusive and collaborative. It’s this support from a wide range of committed participants that allows fintech innovation in Scotland to thrive.
Like every year, our partners are also very much involved and we’re looking forward to attend events from RBS, Pinsent Masons, BT, PwC, Deloitte, The University of Edinburgh, The University of Strathclyde, IBM, Merkle, Checkpoint, SDI and no less than 6 events from the FCA.
We’re particularly excited to welcome colleagues from across the UK and the world as we continue to build national and international collaboration, share knowledge, and learn about fintech developments across regions and geographies.
We’re privileged and inspired to see the leadership, experience and expertise that plan to contribute across all the events, and I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone involved.
I’ll look forward to hearing your experiences and updates across the duration of the festival and I’m very much looking forward to seeing many of you in the coming weeks.
All the best
Nicola
Scottish fintech zumo posts 100x user growth
One year on from a 150% oversubscribed £1.66 million seed funding round closed in just a few short hours, Scottish fintech Zumo has reported that its customer base grew a hundred-fold over the course of the year, increasing from 500 in August 2020 to 50,000 in August 2021.
Founded with the mission statement smart money for everyone’, the Edinburgh-based crypto wallet and payments platform is one of a range of Scottish-born fintechs thriving amidst the vibrant Scottish fintech scene, with underpinning GBP payment services provided by fellow young company and FinTech Scotland member Modulr.
Backed by early investors including Murray Capital, Coldplay’s Guy Berryman and the Scottish Investment Bank, Zumo’s mobile app and B2B product offering aims to bring the benefits of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to people and businesses everywhere, and it will continue to pursue ambition plans for growth over the course of 2022.
Other highlights from the past year included:
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Product: launch of a new virtual Visa debit card offering seamless cash-to-cryptocurrency payment functionality, alongside innovative smart price alert and smartfolio portfolio tracking features;
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People: a doubled workforce, with key strategic hires and appointments including Chief Operating Officer Dagmara Aldridge; Chief Technology Officer Tim Sabanov; and Non-Executive Director Andy Downes;
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Enterprise: the launch of ZumoKit, a B2B crypto-as-a-service solution that allows fintechs, banks and payment providers to connect to the blockchain, adopt digital and crypto currency solutions and profit from decentralisation; and
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Awards: recognition as a start-up to watch’ by Sifted, the FT-backed start-up monitoring platform, alongside further individual wins and nominations at the UK FinTech, Women in FinTech and EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards.
Nick Jones, Zumo CEO, commented:
“As we grow, it’s great to see the fintech ecosystem around us growing, too – not least through the efforts of organisations such as FinTech Scotland.
“With a global outlook, and breadth of product offering covering both mainstream consumer and business needs, we believe ourselves well placed to capitalise on unprecedented and growing consumer and institutional interest in digital assets and decentralised applications.
“We’re here to provide a new generation of smart money solutions for a new, decentralised economy – bringing financial wellness to people everywhere, not just the most tech savvy or financially literate.”