By Richard Prime, CEO of SonovateWe all know that tech is a booming sector – you just have to look around to see the many ways technology has embedded itself into our everyday lives to get even a small picture. But let’s put that into sharper perspective with some facts: in 2014, the tech sector contributed £72 billion to the UK economy; around 5 percent of the country’s total. It’s still a growing industry too, receiving a record £1.4 billion in venture capital funding last year. And which area is the most exciting of the lot? FinTech, with a huge £20 billion generated in revenue in the UK in 2014 alone.
And recruiters are well positioned to take advantage of this growth. Let’s start by uncovering the four micro-sectors within FinTech.
- Payments
The largest micro-sector, payments is dominated by big players like Transferwise and GoCardless. In terms of innovation and scale, it is divided into two segments: infrastructure and online. Combine them, and payments generated £10 billion – half of the FinTech total.
- Financial and data analytics
These businesses collect diverge ranges of data on individuals, companies and market activities like trading. It comprises of credit reference, capital markets, and insurance and data analytics.
- Financial software
This micro-sector is headed up by big international tech companies, most of which are headquartered outside the UK. These offer a range of solutions to financial institutions, such as risk management and accounting software.
- Platforms
Platforms as a sector varies significantly depending on the market segment, and includes peer-to-peer platforms, trading platforms and aggregators.
While these are new areas for many recruiters, a lot of the jobs that FinTech companies need to fill are ones in which we have a lot of experience placing candidates. As is made clear by the Fin and the Tech in the name, FinTech requires both financial and technical specialists, such as finance directors, operations managers, CTOs, Technical Analysts, Developers and Engineers.
As in any business, FinTech companies require sales and marketing teams to generate revenue and push for expansion and growth. Typical roles in these departments include CMOs, Content Marketing Managers, Business Analysts, Sales Executives and PR Managers.
That’s all very well, you might say. But where can recruiters meet FinTech businesses and share in their boom? Handily, there are a number of FinTech networking events where the senior management meet and share their experiences with each other. For a canny recruiter who wants to infiltrate this space, these networking events are the place to begin. Some of the best know events include:
- FinTech 50 2015
- Startupbootcamp FinTech London Accelerator
- FinTech Week
- Finovate Europe
With the government firmly behind the UK’s tech sector and start-up incubators appearing up and down the country, now’s the time to start getting involved in recruiting for the UK’s FinTech scene. And if you still need convincing, consider that venture capital investments in just London FinTech rose from £114 million in 2013 to £343 million in 2014; so who knows where that figure will reach this year? Now is the time for recruitment agencies to take advantage of this and help drive growth across this new wave of businesses.
