Digital Infrastructure Is The Key To Yorkshire’s Economic Recovery

There is no doubt 2020 was a challenging year for many, but targeted investment into digital infrastructure will allow Yorkshire to recover, build back stronger, and have a more robust foundation to succeed in the future.

While many businesses struggled in the unique market conditions produced by an unprecedented 12 months in 2020, several sectors of the economy were booming.

A high percentage of the successful sectors involved operating online so ensuring the expansion of digital infrastructure in Yorkshire will allow companies in the region to more easily gain access to many of those areas of business.

The e-commerce and online auctions sector of the UK, for example, showed a revenue growth of 29.5% from 2019 to 2020. Previously a declining industry in the days of mail orders and sales by telephone and television, the sector completely revolutionised by the growth of the internet and is on the way to becoming the primary method many people purchase their goods and services. Where brick and mortar shops are struggling, their online equivalents, such as companies like Asos, are thriving.

Another area that did very well in 2020 was online order and delivery services. Excellent performance from food services like Deliveroo and Just Eat help this sector show phenomenal 45.1% growth in revenue between 2019 and last year. A lack of options for dining out left many people turning to delivery apps to bring treats to them instead. Taking advantage of the success, several of these apps also began reducing or removing signup fees and commissions from restaurants, which in turn drove revenue up even further.

Online entertainment also saw massive growth in 2020 for similar reasons as e-commerce and delivery services. People, unable to visit the cinema or engage in entertainment activities away from home turned to online options to fill the void. Netflix, for example, added 15 million subscribers in just the first quarter of 2020 and those numbers did not slow down until the beginning of this year. This success extends to the iGaming space as well with new casino sites in UK performing very well. Sun Vegas, for example, saw a 25% rise in web traffic last year.

There are plenty more examples but the point has been made, and that is that the need for an expansion of digital infrastructure in Yorkshire is vital to the future financial success of its businesses. “History books will tell of the countless businesses that were affected as society adjusted to the disruption. They will not only reflect on the unprecedented challenges, but also on how it proved to be the catalyst for the digitalisation of society,” TechUK CEO Julian David told the Yorkshire Post.

David and TechUK have been travelling around the United Kingdom for the last nine months meeting and consulting with various industry experts to identify the opportunities and issues Yorkshire is facing in terms of digitalisation. “While each region and nation has its own opportunities and challenges, the common thread to them all came down to one thing – the strength of an area’s local digital capital,” David confirmed.

Local digital capital is a term that includes all the equipment, infrastructure, and personnel skills required for companies to be able to operate effectively online. It would also include elements like access to financial support and investments made into research and development. The good news for Yorkshire is that they are not the first region in the UK to make this a focus and, therefore, have a few blueprints to base plans on. One such example is the digital campus launched in Barnsley in September last year called “The Seam”.

The Seam is a digital business district in Barnsley’s town center which includes two hi-tech business hubs and Barnsley College’s SciTech facility. There are plans to add retail, travel, and residential facilities too. “We’d like The Seam to be recognised regionally and nationally as a collaborative and creative business and learning community, where companies of all sizes and at all stages of development can come together to work and share ideas and opportunities,” said Barnsley council cabinet spokesperson Tim Cheetham.

Not only is it the perfect foil for Yorkshire to follow, but they can also engage with the Barnsley council and learn from the mistakes they made as well as get expert advice from the lessons they learned. According to Sage, closing the local digital gap in regions around the UK would have a massive positive impact on the economy, boosting it by as much as £145-billion and creating nearly three million jobs.