focus on oxford
Technology meets tradition on Oxford’s journey of growth
Oxford is a fascinating place – a city with a local business landscape ranging from world-renowned traditional education institutions and companies operating within a progressive 21st century economy, writes John Burbedge
As a leading professional services firm, Grant Thornton operates within this remarkable Oxford space working with start-ups, public sector, and fast-growing entrepreneurial and large established businesses. It is a very wide-ranging and networked economy, “whom we assist by using our own unique supportive network,” said Grant Thornton partner Mark Bishop, when I spoke with him recently.
“It’s a privilege and pleasure to be based here, working with really fascinating clients who are often doing amazing work. Plus, we get to go on their exciting growth journeys, helping them get to where they want to be.
“Oxford has always been a significant market for us, both as a talent pool in building and developing our professional teams, but also because of the really interesting businesses here, particularly from the technology perspective,” explained Bishop. Unsurprisingly, Grant Thornton’s national technology practice, led by Bishop’s colleague Wendy Hart, was begun in Oxford.
Oxford is already one of the world’s leading technology clusters and its city council’s 2050 vision is to become globally recognised as a digital-age exemplar of the knowledge-based economy.
Oxford is also in the top 10 local authorities in Grant Thornton’s recently released Vibrant Economy Index – a distinctive report that delves beyond GDP to take a detailed look at growth and the economy in England across six baskets from prosperity, to sustainability, to health and well- being. For Oxford, four baskets rank in the top 20% nationally, with community, trust and belonging ranking first in England.
Ironically, mirroring Oxford’s landscape, recent Grant Thornton
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businessmag.co.uk Wendy Hart
research has revealed a tradition versus progress challenge for UK businesses.
The firm’s Planning for Growth report named the number one barrier to growth for South East businesses as the ‘tech crunch’ – their failure to embrace technology.
Grant Thornton’s research found that South East businesses could be missing out on £10 billion of untapped growth, the UK overall an untapped £72.5 billion – equivalent to an economy the size of Greater Manchester, or growth providing 1.4 million jobs.
Mark Bishop
“Businesses that don’t embrace technology will get left behind, because others will embrace it and gain a competitive advantage,” warned Bishop. “And, there are some huge societal problems that can only be resolved through technology.
“It’s also absolutely fundamental to embrace technology today because people want to work more flexibly and manage their lifestyles, and technology itself is enabling that,” added Hart, highlighting the ongoing workstyle revolution.
Quoting from the report, Hart added: “More businesses see technology as a significant barrier (47%) than those that see it as a growth accelerator (34%). With so much potential in the region, cracking the ‘tech crunch challenge’ must be a key area of focus for the South East’s businesses.
The first companies to tech- enable their businesses tend to be market disruptive and see uplift in their perceived value. A clear management understanding of what they are seeking to achieve through technology application, be it back-office or customer- facing systems, also ensures a clear brief to technology vendors and consultants, reducing the risk of expensive mistakes.
“Seeing technology as a core part of business strategy and not a cost centre is a first step in embracing its potential to unlock growth, and one which can pay swift dividends.
“One way that technology can be transformative is in facilitating a revenue model shift.” Hart exampled cloud technology assisting the move of software businesses from a traditional licence fee and maintenance model to software as a service (SaaS).
grantthornton.co.uk/en/insights/ planning-for-growth/
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – MAY/JUNE 2018
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