The latest UK Tech Talent Tracker from Accenture has revealed that the number of professionals with technology skills is expanding at a faster pace in the North of England than in London and the South of England, as demand for technology talent increases around the UK.

The tracker, which analyses LinkedIn’s Professional Network data, finds that the pool of technology talent in cities in the North of England has grown on average by 15% in the last year, outpacing southern cities that grew on average at 9%.

Manchester experienced the highest level of growth in technology talent at 25% — predominantly driven by a 93% increase in the number of cyber security professionals now based in the city.

Liverpool saw the biggest increase in people with blockchain skills (48%), and Newcastle saw a jump in artificial intelligence professionals (up 40%) over the past 12 months.

“While London contains the most technology professionals in the UK, the capital reported just 2% growth in overall technology talent over the year,” said Accenture.

“The findings show the number of people with technology skills in London declined by 6% in the last six months – the first time the capital has seen a dip since the start of the pandemic.”

Shaheen Sayed, Accenture’s Technology Lead in the UK & Ireland, said: “The technology sector has a vital role to play in rebalancing the British economy and it’s extremely encouraging to see the spread of technology skills as the job market bounces back from the pandemic.

“With more robotics and AI fuelling our industries, new technology and software engineering skills are required in every corner of the country.

“London’s dominance as a centre of technology talent remains, but with growth in the technology talent pool no longer being so concentrated in the South, it does indicate we are edging closer to closing the technology skills gap that has been historically prevalent in the UK.”

Accenture recently announced plans to create 3,000 new technology jobs in the UK over the next three years.

Half of the roles will be based outside of London, expanding Accenture’s presence in Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The new roles are being driven by increased client demand for services in platforms, cloud engineering, cybersecurity, data and intelligent operations.