The UK's Information and Communication industry is thriving. The sector contributed £118.4 billion to the country's economy in 2015, accounting for over 7% of UK GVA, according to the UK parliament's 2017 Technology (ICT) Sector Report. London is currently ranked number one in Nesta’s European Digital City Index, demonstrating impressive levels of support available to digital entrepreneurs.
There's plenty of action outside of the capital too; with buzzing digital clusters in cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff, and Belfast. These organisations employed 1.5 million people during 2016, with the digital sector accounting for 4.5% of all UK jobs, as notes the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.
The UK is the top destination within Europe for incoming investment into the digital market, receiving £6.7 billion in 2016 (50% greater than any other country in Europe), according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. Thankfully, the effects of Brexit don't look to have a hugely negative impact on this level of investment. In fact, a significant number of leading global technology companies have stated their plans for substantial investment in the UK market, since the vote to leave the EU.
Business intelligence provider Global Database holds information on thousands of companies currently working in the UK Information and Communication industry. From this data we've compiled a list of the country's 20 top performing companies in the sector. The impressive sums of money these organisations are turning over demonstrate the huge potential in the sector, even for businesses working on a much smaller scale.
1. Bell Microsystems LTD
Better known under its trading name Bell Integration, the Portsmouth-based company turned over £129.8 billion in 2016. The IT services and consulting business was founded back in 1995, but has seen great growth in more recent times, not least in its acquisition of IBM software partner Portal in 2016, and IT and AV rentals business Hamilton in 2017.
2. Vodafone Group
The telecommunications giant has long been a household name, and now has around around 19.5 million in the UK alone. The company, which employs 13,000 people throughout the country, reported a fall in sales for its most recent quarter, which it states is down to having to compete solely on price. Turnover for 2016 was still an impressive £42.5 billion.
3. British Telecommunications PLC
BT is a giant in the UK telecoms industry, now working multinationally from its headquarters in London. The company has seen significant outgoings in recent times, thanks to a hefty £42 million fine from Ofcom in 2017 for reducing wholesale compensation, and the acquisition of mobile network operator EE in 2016. In 2018 the firm announced its plans to cut 13,000 jobs, two-thirds of which will be from its UK workforce, and also move operations from its London hub.
4. Telenor UK
The UK arm of the telecoms services firm provides solutions to help businesses make use of the IoT as well as providing satellites for broadcast and data communication services. Now in the industry for over two decades, the company saw turnover of £18.8 billion in 2016.
5. Cisco International LTD
The Cisco Systems subsidiary, headquartered in Cardiff, turned over a total of £9.1 billion in 2016. It was announced in Summer 2018 that the company will be investing £77 million in the UK digital market, partnering with University College London to set up an Artificial Intelligence (AI) research centre.
6. Sky UK LTD
The subsidiary of Sky plc was formed back in 1990 through a merger between Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting. The company has since become the UK's leading digital subscription TV service, turning over a total of £7.9 billion in 2016.
7. RELX PLC
The information and analytics multinational firm turned over £6.89 billion last year. The group announced in early 2018 that it was acquiring ThreatMetrix - one of the world leaders in online digital identities - for £580m, which could fuel further growth in the coming fiscal year.
8. Vodafone Ltd
A great example of longevity in the telecoms sector, Vodafone Limited has been around since 1980. Its sales of consumer phone and internet products and services, alongside business solutions such as mobile and fixed communications and cloud services, saw it turnover £5.84 billion last year.
9. Arris International Plc
The company, which manufactures telecommunications equipment, saw a turnover of £5.46 billion in 2016. Arris International has made numerous acquisitions to expand its market share, most recently buying up the Ruckus Wireless unit from Broadcom Limited for $800 million.
10. Telefonica UK Ltd
Better known under its trading name O2, the company saw a turnover of £5.24 billion in 2016. This increase in revenue came after a decrease in the company's customer base, but the country's second biggest mobile network managed to claw back revenue from handset revenue and new B2B contracts with the likes of Tesco Bank and Mercedes Benz.
