Interview: Matt Jeffs-Watts, programme manager at Tech North

Today I got a chance to catch up with Matt Jeffs-Watts, the programme manager of an organisation founded with the purpose of propelling the North’s tech sector into prosperity.

A government-funded initiative established earlier this year, Tech North is the driving force behind the Northern Stars programme, which has partnered with the Thinking Digital conference to hold its latest regional heat for tech startups in Manchester.

“Tech North is all about championing the digital sector across the North of England,” Matt told me when I asked for a rundown on the organisation’s story so far. “Our efforts involve all sorts of initiatives and programmes, from addressing skills shortages to encouraging entrepreneurship and improving access to finance for startups.

“Finance is where the Northern Stars programme has its foundation, as a platform for identifying the North’s best tech startups and promoting them both nationally and internationally.”

“To build a sustainable tech sector, you need to have a community that’s engaged and working to drive the vision forward.”

Matt said Tech North is also about enhancing community engagement.

“To build a sustainable tech sector,” he explained, “you need to have a community that’s engaged and working to drive the vision forward.”

To date, there have been six Northern Stars competitions across the North - in Newcastle, Sunderland, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield and Hull.

Matt said: “The regional events are all about stimulating engagement, getting startups to pitch and publicise their ideas.”

What about the obstacles tech startups face in funding their goals? I asked Matt how Tech North fits into that.

“I think the issue is more geographical than anything else,” he said. “For example, if you’re in Silicon Valley you’ve got easy access to investors. In London, it’s a lot more difficult for tech startups than it is in the US, so up here in the North, it’s even harder.

“The problem is that, while we do have a lot of great digital companies in this part of the country, they’re too spread out. It works against the clustering effect, which essentially makes it easier for investors to focus on building a particular area.”

“Digital has a key role to play in the government’s Northern Powerhouse initiative and we feed into that agenda. We’re essentially working to further the North’s tech economy.”

Matt added: “In the North we have the same quantity and quality of young companies operating in the digital sector, and at Tech North we want to bring them together.”

Matt’s words seemed to echo the government’s aim of pooling the North into one big business community to attract Chinese investors, so I could see exactly what he meant.

“Digital has a key role to play in the government’s Northern Powerhouse initiative,” he said, “and we feed into that agenda. We’re essentially working to further the North’s tech economy.”

In light of the regional Northern Stars event taking place in Manchester today, I asked Matt where the 10 overall winners, who will be announced in the final later this month, stand to benefit.

He told me: “We obviously want to raise the profiles of the winners, so the first thing we’ll be doing is taking them to get some valuable exposure at the Tech Crunch Disrupt conference in London next month.

“Then in January, we’ve got a dedicated Northern Stars event at Bloomberg where the winners will be able to pitch to Bloomberg investors.”

Tech North’s aims go beyond that, he said, hinting at a meaty, yet-to-be-announced pipeline of initiatives to further strengthen the North’s digital economy.