The West Midlands is now recognised as one of three FinTech hubs in the UK, as a new report has revealed that the sector supports more than 11,000 jobs in the region.

The Impact Report, commissioned by SuperTech, the UK’s only tech supercluster founded in the West Midlands, also highlighted how Birmingham and the region’s FinTech businesses have generated £474 million in economic output, and are on track to achieve £1 billion.

Central to this economic boom are the region’s higher education institutions, crucial in not only developing skills and attracting global talent, but also in developing cutting-edge research and collaborating with firms to push the region to keep this thriving FinTech ecosystem growing.

One such higher education partner is the leading research body, the Gillmore Centre for Financial Technology at Warwick Business School, who is helping SuperTech grow the FinTech sector by linking businesses with developing courses to attract top talent to the area.

Matt Hanmer, Honorary Research Fellow at the Gillmore Centre said: “SuperTech’s Impact Report shows how important the burgeoning FinTech sector is to the region. We will support this growth with our research and developing the next generation of workers through our courses.

The Gillmore Centre is committed to working in partnership with business in the region to both inform and deliver our research, and when we do that, we bring the reach of the global research community as an asset to developing FinTech in Birmingham and West Midlands.

In the creation of all successful tech clusters, higher education is critical in their development and the Gillmore Centre supports this with a range of exciting projects, including the creation of a Gillmore AI and a Crypto Index to help the region’s FinTech businesses.”

The report was made with the aims to bring together the FinTech sector in the region, highlighting it as a thriving centre of innovation with the potential to enhance productivity, drive even more inward investment, and foster a skills revolution.

Hilary Smyth-Allen, Executive Lead for SuperTech, added: “The headlines about the future of our economy are dominated by technology. Just like the first industrial revolution, it’s been taking shape in Birmingham.

The opportunity for next generation services has its foundations in a place which made its name through innovation and disruption. We are at the crossroads of assets and talent.”

She added: “Over the last two years, we have radically reshaped the inward investment story around ProfTech, helping to bring new businesses into the region from around the world.

But if we don’t nurture this cluster, capital will go elsewhere in a flash. We need to supercharge ideas and talent with investment.”

This comes following a City of London Corporation reception to highlight possible opportunities in next generation services in Birmingham. There will also be a Mayoral Roundtable, hosted by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, to discuss next steps in delivering ProfTech’s potential as part of the West Midlands Plan for Growth.