Hi-tech companies outpacing UK economy

The UK technology sector is growing far faster than other British business areas, according to accountancy firm Deloitte & Touche's (DT) consultancy arm. The company claims that technology firms -- a group that includes IT, telecoms and biotech operations -- account for just over five per cent of the VAT registered (ie. those turning over £45,000 or more) businesses in Britain. However, that sector is growing at an average annual rate of 25 per cent since 1996, well above the UK economy's current growth rate. "We are a nation of innovators and inventors -- we have been from the Industrial Revolution through to the present day. But sometimes we don't shout about it enough," said Mike Berners Price, lead partner in DT's Technology Fast 50 programme, after a posh dinner in a swanky London hotel. Technology Fast 50 programme is a marketing scheme designed to raise the profile of British technology companies (ie. persuade more people to buy their stock). Berners Price went on to announce the London and the South East region's fastest growing technology firms, including games publisher Eidos, electronic organiser developer Psion, and direct PC vendors, Mesh and Carrera. ®