FinTech North | Bringing together the Fintech community in the Northern Powerhouse

FinTech North is an open and collaborative network of fintechs across the North of England that seeks to help foster growth and facilitate regional and national connections through forums and events.  

We spoke to Joe Roche, Engagement Manager at FinTech North, about the region’s burgeoning fintech scene and its myriad attractions for start-ups and scale-ups.  

What does your organisation do? 

FinTech North is the focal point for fintech in the northern powerhouse, in the north of England. We were set up in 2016.  

We exist primarily to bring the Northern fintech community together. But we also support fintech entrepreneurs and start-ups and scale-ups at our events and with business development opportunities across our wider network and within the community. We try to make sure that innovation taking place in our community is part of a wider national landscape.

Tell us about your UK operations and how you interact on a global scale

We have an advisory board of fintech luminaries from across the north of England - leaders who've scaled, exited and grown fintechs in the north of England. We meet with those guys monthly to help us with our strategy. They've been really key to us moving on to be a success.

Many of the UK's best universities are in the north and they're often in really close proximity to each other in cities like Manchester and Liverpool in the North West and Newcastle and Durham in the North East. I think graduates are less pulled to London these days and are more often choosing to stay in the north of England

What are the main benefits for fintechs based in the north? 

One of the main ones that jumps straight to mind is access to talent. Many of the UK's best universities are in the north and they're often in really close proximity to each other in cities like Manchester and Liverpool in the North West and Newcastle and Durham in the North East. I think graduates are less pulled to London these days with more and are more often choosing to stay in the north of England There's great culture, history and nightlife. All of these things are really important to people. 

It's also worth emphasising that the North has a really strong heritage in financial services and tech. For example, Liverpool has a really strong heritage in wealth management being a port city. Historically Greater Manchester has real strengths in payments and ecommerce, having been a centre of retail and textiles trade. The Leeds City region has got really strong banking and lending credentials. For example, it’s the only place outside of London that is home to all of the major credit reference agencies. The Bank of England, the FCA, the Centre for Greening Finance and Investment and the British Infrastructure Bank have also landed or are landing in the city as well. So it’s a really exciting time for fintech in the North. 

There's an emerging specialism in payments developing up in the North East. Durham is home to Atom Bank, one of the UK's best known challenger banks and Newcastle is home to Sage, one of the UK's largest tech companies which is really well known for its accountancy software. The North has got lots going for it and it's just about communicating that. 

Another obvious benefit are the lower overheads which is really important for businesses when they're scaling. It's definitely a lot cheaper to operate a business in the North compared to London. 

There’s also a really strong sense of community up in the North. People are really collaborative, always open to a chat. Collaboration has always been at the heart of our values, really. People generally are keen to talk about their experiences and give their insights where they can.

Another obvious benefit are the lower overheads which is really important for businesses when they're scaling. It's definitely a lot cheaper to operate a business in the North compared to London

How does your organisation support growth ambitions of UK companies? 

Nobody really has a better idea of what's going on on the ground than we do. And we've got a really good handle on what’s happening on a national basis as well. Organisations like the Financial Conduct Authority, HM Treasury and the Bank of England - if they want to do something in the regions and it's fintech related - generally they look to work with us and we will support them, which is great. And I think international organisations recognise that as well.  

We work quite extensively with partners such as the Department for Business and Trade on fintech trade missions both inbound and outbound. So that means identifying opportunities overseas for northern fintechs but also showcasing the North of England as a viable destination for international fintechs.

How has partnership with other organisations helped to support your ambitions and the sector? 

Fintech North was actually the first regional fintech hub outside of London, so in many ways we blazed a little bit of a trail. But we're really happy now to count other organisations across the UK as key and valued partners like Fintech Scotland, Fintech Northern Ireland, Fintech Wales, Fintech West in the South West of England, SuperTech down in the West Midlands and Innovate Finance in London. We're part of something called the Fintech National Network and we meet up twice a month. We talk about issues faced by fintechs and entrepreneurs in our ecosystems. We help amplify each other's reach, we collaborate on campaigns and events, that kind of thing.  

I think the financial services sector also deserves credit for trying harder to engage with fintechs. I've seen renewed interest in the sector. Many banks, building societies and credit unions have set up their own initiatives or started working with organisations like Fintech North to engage better with fintechs as well. So hopefully we'll continue to be dynamic and continue to grow. And, most importantly, impact people and provide employment here in England and across the UK as a whole.