Cornwall’s digital tech sector has been singled out as one of the fastest growing in the country in the latest Tech Nation 2017 report.

According to the report from Tech City UK, Cornwall’s digital businesses grew their turnover by 51 per cent between 2011 and 2015, and the sector spawned an average of 22 start-up tech businesses every year in the same period.

Cornwall-based tech businesses that responded to Tech Nation’s latest survey employ 1,380 people and the average advertised salary for digital tech jobs is £31,322 compared to a Cornwall-wide average of £17,873.

The report states: “Cornwall’s digital tech cluster might be small, but it is increasingly mighty - centred on Redruth and Truro, but expanding to Camborne, Falmouth, Newquay and beyond. People and businesses come for the coastal quality of life. They stay, however, for the community and the connectivity.”

The report adds that investment in superfast broadband means Truro now has more fibre connections than most European cities, while the sector is backed by a collaborative ‘ecosystem’ that includes industry group Software Cornwall, the Digital Peninsula Network with 700 members in Cornwall, and the annual Agile on the Beach conference that has become a highlight of the digital tech scene.

It adds: “Talent and skills are developing fast here. Falmouth University has set up an academy concentrating on the computer games industry, while Cornwall College has improved its computer courses to match industry needs and launched a new software degree. The college has also teamed up with Bluefruit Software to launch their I Am Digital programme, helping students to earn their technical baccalaureate while working on real projects.”