RURAL North Yorkshire could be a growth area for technology and software businesses, says Richmond MP Rishi Sunak.
He said the beauty of the area and the continuing improvements in internet connectivity would make it an increasingly attractive area for hi-tech and high-skilled enterprises.
Improvements in broadband, its good road and rail links plus the high quality rural environment held the key to attracting more firms in a growing sector of the economy.
Mr Sunak was speaking after meeting staff at The City Secret in Richmond. The company creates and maintains software for the finance industry. Some of the biggest names in the City of London and global finance markets such as HSBC and Morgan Stanley use software developed in Richmond.
The company was established in the town in 2000 by former City software engineer Martin Worner who was attracted by the beautiful working environment. It now employs 20 people at its offices in the former Richmond Methodist school rooms in Zetland Square.
Mr Sunak said: “I was very impressed by what Martin and the rest of The City Secret team are doing in Richmond. It just demonstrates that high-skilled tech businesses don’t have to be based in cities.
“It was great to see so many young people doing this type of work in a growing sector of the economy and a number of them started as apprentices.”
Mr Worner said he was keen to attract more young talent locally. His company launched a software engineering apprenticeship with the first apprentices completing their training in 2014.
In recent months, Mr Sunak has visited a number of technology or knowledge-based businesses in his constituency which are growing strongly.
They include OpenCRM at Colburn, a cloud-based customer relationship management system company which provides a tailored software solution for organisations around the globe and Professional Information at Aske, near Richmond.
At PI, he opened an extension which was required to support the continued growth of the business, which provides medical information to healthcare professionals and the public on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry. Again, it does business worldwide from North Yorkshire and now employs more than 200 staff.