The Isle of Man – working closer with Leeds City Region
On March 23rd, aql welcomed an official delegation from the Isle of Man government at its historic headquarters for a full day event focused on how Leeds City Region and the Isle of Man can collaborate and build a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship.
Representatives from the Isle of Man Department of Economic Development, Barclays, KPMG and ILS World met with Leeds businesses to introduce the Isle of Man as a Business Centre of Excellence and identify business opportunities. The delegates showcased the IOM specialist skillsets in financial services and supporting sectors such as Real Estate, IT – including e-gaming and blockchain integrity checking, Intellectual Property and Biomed.
In his welcome speech to the audience, Dr Adam Beaumont, aql CEO’s and founder, championed Leeds as a key northern connectivity hub with a strong Internet ecosystem and infrastructure. He explained how interconnections to IXLeeds, the independent northern Internet exchange point, could benefit and improve the Isle of Man connectivity capabilities and market.
He also outlined that working closely with Leeds organisations such as the Leeds Institute of Data analytics could help bring value to areas where the Isle of Man needs support and lay the foundations needed to derive smart outcomes from their own rapidly growing “big data” ecosystem. He further explained that this is a “Two way street” and the blockchain capabilities on the Island would also help support security and integrity checking technologies which Leeds needs to assure good data provenance.
Paul Maddocks, UK Corporate Business Development Manager at the Isle of Man DED said that “… by building a strong relationship with Leeds, the Isle of Man profile can increase and attract more investment and businesses”. Key figures include a 3.3% low inflation, a 1.9% rate of low unemployment with a growing international workforce and a 5.0% Projected growth rate for 2016.
Jon Wagstaffe, Relationship Director at Isle of Man Barclays subsidiary, said that the Isle of Man is safe, transparent and reputable finance centre with world class banking solutions for both individuals and corporations, and therefore constantly attracting international investors.
E-business is a key sector for the Isle of Man as it currently represents 25% of the economy and is expected to grow up to 33% and employ 2500 people by 2020. Jonathan Mills, Director of E-Business at the Isle of Man DED talked about the industry’s strengths, such as world class power infrastructure with 5 Tier 3+ data centres, 100% broadband availability, IT apprenticeship schemes, a responsive regulation and core ICT sectors on the rise, such as gaming, ecommerce, fintech and blockchain.
Speaking also on behalf of North Invest addressing the dinner delegation, Dr Beaumont highlighted the opportunities for Isle of Man businesses to expand into the City Region – which can support their sustainable expansion and help provide a much needed and reservoir of skills.
