In Nottingham we are fortunate that we have a diverse economy, with both historical and current pioneering activity from our many interesting and exciting businesses. Members of Nottingham Partners too are varied and cover the large and the small, the old and the new, with organisations in the arts, hospitality, development, construction, biotechnology, and telecoms industries to name just a few, but if you have ever wondered what the makeup of Nottingham’s businesses is like and the value they add to the economy, here is a snapshot. By the way, when we say ‘Nottingham’ it is shorthand for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
There are 335 companies which are headquartered in Nottingham that are being tracked for high-growth. In terms of what these businesses do, a quarter are in Business and Professional Services, another 24% are in Industrials and more than 18% are in Technology or IP based businesses. While the sectors are broad therefore may not be surprising, it is interesting to see the scale of the contribution to the economy – these 335 high growth businesses alone employ an estimated 62,000 people, and have a total turnover in excess of £5bn (and only 35% of these businesses are reporting full financials).
Predictably, these high growth companies are involved in fundraising, with the amount raised ranging from £5k (Delilah Fine Foods) to more than £20m (Lockwood Publishing), but perhaps given the turbulent global crisis it was not predictable that the highest number of fundraisings happened in Q1 of 2021, with 15 deals totalling more than £23m. At the time of fundraising more than 40% of the businesses were in the ‘seed’ stage.
Whilst spread out across the city and county, the majority of businesses are in Nottingham city, Rushcliffe and Newark and Sherwood.
The variety within the economy gives it the strength to withstand economic shocks but we are also lucky enough to have serious sector strengths which are recognised nationally and internationally, and clearly plenty of ambitious and forward-thinking organisations. We are looking forwards to a busy and successful 2022 and would love to hear from you with any special interest areas, key trends or if you could offer support with inward investment enquiries.
Emma Smith
Market Intelligence and Strategy Development, Invest in Nottingham