Whitecap to support DIT FinTech Missions to Northern Powerhouse
As the UK looks to court FinTech talent from across the world, the Northern Powerhouse project is preparing to welcome two missions from the Nordics in the coming months. In order to support this, Whitecap Consulting has been enlisted to assist with the important events.
Established in 2012, Whitecap Consulting works with mid-sized organisations and divisions of corporate businesses across multiple sectors including: Financial Services, Technology, Retail, Higher Education, Property, Healthcare and Inward Investment. Supporting clients typically located outside London, the firm usually helps clients analyse, develop and implement growth strategies.
Whitecap's clients have included Bibby Financial Services, The Co-operative Group, Costcutter, OCS, Department of International Trade, Furness Building Society and London South Bank University, among others. The firm is also a co-founder of FinTech North; an events initiative, championing FinTech in the so-called ‘Northern Powerhouse’ economy.
The Northern Powerhouse is a proposal to boost economic growth in the North of England by the Conservative government in the UK, particularly in the "Core Cities" of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Hull and Newcastle. Now, as Whitecap looks to bring further FinTech missions into the North, the firm has announced it will be working with the Department for International Trade over the next six months.
FinTech is a fast-growing sector that already contributes £6.6 billion annually to the UK economy, and employs over 60,000 people. Further growth in the sector has been prioritised by the UK Government, as the British economy braces for a period of economic turbulence relating to an uncertain Brexit.
Nordic-Baltic delegation
In November, a delegation of approximately 15-20 FinTech firms from the Nordic-Baltic region will visit the North of England for the second consecutive year. In February, a similar sized European delegation expected to be made up of FinTech firms predominantly from Western Europe will visit.
Each of the delegations will follow a similar programme, spending time in Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds in a schedule that will showcase the region’s businesses, universities, and economic landscape. This year, as with last year, Whitecap will support the two missions.
Commenting on the contract, Julian Wells, Director at Whitecap Consulting, said, “We are proud to once again have the opportunity to work with DIT on its programme of FinTech missions. Our primary objective is to create opportunities for the visiting FinTechs to engage directly with organisations and individuals in the north so they can discuss genuine commercial opportunities. We will be working closely with the regional cities across the north to ensure the missions showcase the collective strength and opportunity offered by the Northern Powerhouse as a region.”
Jeremy Coupland, Financial Services Sector Specialist for the Northern Powerhouse at DIT, remarked, “We’re delighted to be working on these two important missions which will showcase the UK’s excellent capabilities in FinTech innovation. We want to promote investment opportunities in the Northern Powerhouse as a comparative and complementary option to London, and our aim is that the visiting FinTech firms gain an understanding of the regional financial services ecosystems in the north, including identifying business opportunities and seeing a clear demonstration of the UK’s pro-innovation regulation.”
Related: Whitecap Consulting to open Bristol and Newcastle offices.
