CITYUK – Brexit is the number 1 threat to UK Fintech scene

A CITYUK report on growing Fintech dynamics and challenges has detailed that UK tech, finance and banking firms will face numerous difficulties attracting top talent resources post-Brexit

The reported named ‘Fuelling Fintech’, underlines that even with improved capital funding UK tech and finance incumbents will have a hard time fulfilling the +100,000 jobs Fintech is projected to create between 2018-2021.

Since 2013, the Fintech sector has witnessed a 100% year-on-year increase in employment figures – however, CITYUK details that a hard Brexit, will likely ‘put the brakes on UK sector attracting talent’.   

“Since the Brexit vote in June 2016, there has been a significant decrease of graduates coming to the UK from France and Germany in particular,” said Miles Celic, chief executive of CityUK. 

Up to a fifth of the skills needed in recent years has come from EU countries, and UK hirers are now seeing a net migration of tech graduates back to the bloc. 

Companies struggle to fill roles in coding, cloud computing, machine learning, software development, cyber, artificial intelligence and blockchain, the report said. 

“There is a risk that those talented migrants with the skills needed by the UK will leave before these skills can be replaced by home-grown talent,” Celic said.

The report recommends copying pharmaceuticals and manufacturing by forging long-term partnerships with academia to create a pipeline of skilled people – and also looking beyond graduates. 

Better data gathering on the skills needed and better retraining of existing employees are also needed, the report said. 

Britain has emerged as a leading fintech hub in Europe in recent years but now faces increased competition from EU cities such as Berlin, Paris and Luxembourg that can offer access to the bloc’s vast single market.