South: Robot expert entertains Tech 100 dinner

Tech companies from across the south gathered at the Forbury Hotel, Reading, last week for the Southern Tech 100 annual dinner.

Sponsored by Barclays, GCS, Moore Stephens and Marks & Clerk, the Southern Tech 100 is an annual listing of the top 100 technology companies in the region, ranked by turnover.

David Murray, publisher of The Business Magazine, said: "Turnover across the 100 companies has stood firm at circa £6 billion and employee numbers have held steady at about 18,600. That shows the resilience of the tech sector.

"Last year, for instance, eight UK tech businesses reached a valuation of at least one billion dollars, and the UK attracted more tech investment projects than other parts of Europe.

With the sector proving so strong it was no surprise to see private equity firms more than doubling their investment in UK tech companies in 2015.

"Tech in the UK is a global force – and the good news is that it’s not just London-based. There are high fliers in the Thames Valley…and high fliers on our list of course.”

The audience heard from special guest speaker Dr Nick Hawes, reader in Autonomous Intelligent Robotics at the University of Birmingham, about the part that robots would play in workplaces of the future.

Full story: see the April issue of The Business Magazine