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A hub for the UK's private equity firms, with a rapidly expanding legal sector

Manchester - offering a widely diverse pool of expertise

145,000 financial and professional services jobs

Manchester is a significant financial and professional services centre. It has strong expertise in banking and asset and wealth management, with nearly two-thirds of workers in financial services high skilled. There is also a strong general insurance cluster and an increasing number of brokers. It is home to the largest cluster of private equity firms outside of London, and a fast-expanding legal sector. The city exports £4.3bn in financial and professional services.

The development of Spinningfields, the city's financial and professional services district has attracted major players including BNY Mellon, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, OakNorth and Deloitte - with JP Morgan recently opening its first office in Manchester.

£364m Foreign direct investment in financial and professional services between 2019-23

Manchester is an established hub of fintech expertise, especially in payments, software, platforms, data analytics and cyber security. Companies in the fintech ecosystem range from startups and rapidly growing scaleups like BankiFi to teams from major international financial services firms including HSBC.

Celebrating and showcasing the Northern success stories in tech

The Investment event was hosted by the British Business Bank to celebrate some of the Northern success stories in tech and to meet some of the up and coming stars such as Wi-Q, Bankifi and Orka. It was also an opportunity for the Lord Mayor, Nicholas Lyons to meet with 8 fintech companies and investors during a ‘Meet the Investor’ networking session - a first of its kind. Consisting of a ‘speed dating set up’ which allowed start ups to pitch their companies and have one-on-one frank discussions.

The Manchester Fintech Ecosystem Report, published by Whitecap consulting was launched at the event, which talks about Manchester as a centre for entrepreneurialism and reveals the huge opportunities for the fintech sector in Greater Manchester.

Download Whitecap Consulting's report

Greater Manchester fintech sector approaches £1 billion

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Ignition Law

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OakNorth

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Praetura Ventures

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