Tech West England Advocates has warned that West England’s technology ecosystems risk hitting a collaboration bottleneck unless domestic and international networks are integrated more quickly.
The advocacy network said regional hubs are beginning to communicate more openly, but warned that slow-moving collaboration could restrict the ability of high-performing clusters to scale globally.
The warning is centred on the West of England, the West Midlands, and the wider South West, where TWEA says combined economic output is comparable to London. The network argues that this strength will remain underused if regional ecosystems continue to scale in siloes rather than operating through faster national corridors and international links.
TWEA pointed to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority area as an example of a region attracting strong investment performance, while identifying the wider South West as a significant centre for green technology, aerospace, and deep tech. The concern is that even strong regional clusters can hit a growth ceiling without faster access to capital, corporate buyers, technical partners, and international markets.
Richard Lowe, founder of Tech West England Advocates, said: “Our West England regions have proven they can build world-class tech and attract serious global capital. We’re an advanced manufacturing powerhouse but we can’t afford to let the pace of our connectivity lag.
“There are positive signs that UK regions are finally talking to each other after years of being quite guarded, but slow collaboration will ultimately stall our momentum. When you look at the numbers, the collective output of the South West of England, the West Midlands and West of England our combined regions is comparable to London. But we can only project that unstoppable national proposition on the world stage if we link up faster. Accelerating these domestic networks is what allows us to plug seamlessly into critical European and international tech hubs to reach our true global potential.”
The network is calling for three immediate priorities. The first is action to redress the regional venture capital imbalance by directing more global VC investment and institutional funding toward regional scale-ups. The second is a more open investor access model, using frequent pitching networks across multiple UK cities to reduce friction between high-growth companies and active investors. The third is action on the early-stage equity gap, including more flexible pre-seed and seed funding and dedicated support for under-represented and diverse founder demographics.
The policy argument reflects a persistent national growth challenge. Regional technology clusters often combine university research, specialist industrial capability, and lower operating costs, but may lack the dense capital networks, corporate headquarters, and later-stage funding pipelines concentrated in London. The British Business Bank’s 2025 equity tracker reported that London accounted for 61% of total UK equity investment in 2024, underlining the scale of the geographic funding concentration.
Jon Gill, partner and head of venture capital at Eversheds Sutherland, said: “Global markets are clearly paying close attention to the West England region, but international venture capital looks for massive, frictionless scalability, not regional borders. To take a founder from an early-stage seed round to a major international exit, we need seamless, nationwide pipelines. If our funding ecosystems remain fragmented or integrate too slowly, we limit the liquidity and corporate matchmaking needed for global mega-rounds.”
The same issue is visible in advanced manufacturing, where regional capability depends on the speed at which skills, suppliers, investors, and customers can be connected. For companies operating in aerospace, maritime, defence, robotics, mobility, and industrial technology, fragmented routes to market can slow procurement, hiring, and scale-up activity.
Peter Richards, CEO of DEEP Manufacturing, said: “West England is at the forefront of a manufacturing renaissance, pioneering advanced technologies like large-scale metal 3D printing and setting the benchmark for industrial innovation. Through close partnerships with universities and colleges across the region, we are creating direct pathways for graduates and emerging talent to build careers in advanced manufacturing — growing a skilled, homegrown workforce that strengthens our industrial base. However modern engineering supply chains thrive on speed, and by accelerating our regional connectivity corridors, we can unlock the full potential of this talent — delivering mission-critical components at the pace global markets demand. Investing in this domestic infrastructure is a tremendous opportunity to cement West England’s position as a world-class industrial hub and drive lasting growth in global market share.”
The warning is backed by participants in TWEA’s London Tech Week fringe event, Innovations: Land, Sea & Air, including representatives from Eversheds Sutherland, Workspace Group, Rowden, DEEP Manufacturing, MAXRES, Q5D, NCC, Firefly, Rho-C, Hewlett Rand, and Antidote Communications.
The event takes place on Friday 12 June 2026, bringing together founders, investors, corporates, and technology leaders working across advanced manufacturing, AI, sustainability, mobility, aerospace, maritime, defence, and emerging technologies.
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