Creating a Competitive Advantage for the Bristol and Bath FinTech Cluster through Growth and Sustainability

Research by Professor Jonathan Beaverstock

Financial Technology (FinTech) is becoming one of the most significant drivers for innovation in financial services. The sector has grown by new entrants like challenger banks delivering innovative access to financial services by enhancing the way in which business and consumers use financial service products and advisory services.

There is rapid growth still to come for FinTech in access to financial services, business to business and consumer to business, impacting UK city regions. Places like Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester and Cardiff are becoming important regional centres for FinTech. This is having a positive multiplier effect across regional knowledge economies. From a research perspective, the drivers of the development of successful FinTech ecosystems and clusters – access to finance, innovation, talent and regulation, are critical for the future of FinTech in places like Bristol and Bath. The sector has the potential to deliver knowledge-intensive activities, contributing to economic growth and high-value job creation.

Research published in 2021 ‘Learning from London’s FinTech cluster: Ensuring the future sustainability and competitiveness of the Bristol and Bath FinTech ecosystem’ sponsored by the U.K.’s Economic and Social Research Council, recommended that the future sustainability of the city-region as a premier FinTech cluster was dependent on FinTech’s stakeholders and institutions scaling up seven competitive advantages:

(1) Access to national, regional and local funding; (2) A depth and breadth of the talent pool and pipelines; (3) The establishment of accelerators and incubators; (4) The economies of scope, depth and distinctiveness of the cluster; (5) A depth of expertise and ‘institutional thickness’; (6) Access to an innovative market; and (7) Global and national connectivity to established FinTech clusters in the U.K., Europe and the rest of the world.

Professor Beaverstock has become a prominent figure in the national FinTech community, serving on advisory boards and contributing to the development of city-regional FinTech clustering strategies. His research has also influenced other regional FinTech clusters in the UK and has been used by various organisations and government bodies to understand the dynamics of FinTech and financial services clustering. 

The collaboration with FinTech West and the Government’s new Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology continues to address the structural barriers to the development of FinTech in UK regions, looking ahead to the future of FinTech in the UK.