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The technology sector in the North, which employs in the region of 283,000 people in tech jobs with £10bn in output, is expected to receive a boost following the announcement from Virgin Atlantic; that it is to commence direct flights from Manchester to San Francisco.
Entrepreneurs across the region have long lobbied for a link as Silicon Valley in California still dominates tech venture capital funding worldwide.
According to an article in the FT; promising start-ups in the North should gain improved access both to funds and know-how with the introduction of the service; which will run three days a week.
Manchester is the second biggest tech hub in the UK by jobs, with 52,000 working in a sector that produces £2.2bn in output a year.
Al Mackin, a Manchester-based tech entrepreneur, is reported as saying: “This is huge news for the north-west start-up scene – the San Francisco area accounts for 25 percent of all global VC investment, while London is just 2 percent, so we now have faster and easier access to the most important start-up region in the world.”
Acknowledgements: FT 30th March 2016