UK technology sector shows signs of recovery

Experts say technology is getting hotter and hotter

The UK technology sector has made a strong recovery over the summer following a sharp drop earlier in the year.

The Computing 30 index, a basket of top UK technology stocks, bottomed out at 131 points in late April after falling 13 points, but has climbed back to 144.
The index reflects a market that is finding its feet for the first time since the collapse of the dot com boom.

Perhaps the strongest indication of this is auction site eBay’s recent $2.6bn (£1.5bn) bid to acquire startup voice over IP provider Skype.

John Blowers, managing director of AngelBourse, a network of investors that raises early-stage funding for promising new companies, says there has recently been a ‘bulge’ in the demand for high-tech funding.

‘Technology is getting hotter and hotter,’ he said.

‘There has been a resurgence of tech people looking for money. We’re seeing a lot of people coming back now with good ideas and good intellectual property.’

The company has recently launched TechBourse, a specialist forum for technology investors that offers startup companies funding and mentoring, to help meet the rising demand from local entrepreneurs.

Earlier this year, European technology acquisitions reached a five-year peak, according to investment bank Regent Associates (Computing, 21 July).

Some 1,413 deals were completed in the first half of 2005, up 26 per cent from the same period last year, and just short of the peak of the dot com bubble in the first half of 2000.

This year’s Computing Awards for Excellence will for the first time recognise the best performing UK IT company tracked on the Computing 30 share index.

Shortlisted are Autonomy, Colt Telecom, Northgate Information Solutions, Royalblue Group, Sage Group, and Vanco.

The winner will be announced on 17 November.