Where are the UK's VAR hotspots and notspots?

Is the so-called southern bias of the UK channel really as pronounced as people think? CRN data finds that 58 of the UK's top VARs are based in the north of England, with a further 16 based in Scotland

It's often said that the channel has a southern bias, but according to CRN analysis, 58 of the UK's top 300 VARs are based in the north of England, with a further 16 situated in Scotland.

As part of CRN's inaugural VAR 300 report we tracked where each is headquartered, with northern cities such as Manchester and Leeds emerging as hotspots alongside the Home Counties.

Although VAR 300 is available exclusively to CRN Essential subscribers or to be purchased for a one-of fee, a preview of the report can be viewed here. It ranks and profiles the 300 largest tech resellers, MSPs and consultancies that are on CRN's radar.

While the South East (87) and London (60) play host to nearly half of our Top 300, northern hubs pull their weight, with 27 based in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber a piece (see map below).

Some seven of the Top 300 are headquartered in Leeds alone.

VAR density

Unsurprisingly, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire have the highest concentration of Top 300 VARs per million inhabitants of any county (21 and 17 respectively), based as they are in the heart of the Thames Valley where many of the world's largest technology vendors have their UK HQs (see graph, bottom).

Other popular home-county haunts include Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex. Essex and Kent are much less favoured, boasting just 2.8 and 3.9 Top 300 VARs per million inhabitants, respectively.

Further north, Manchester and the wider North-West plays home to a thriving channel community, with Cheshire being the fourth most densely populated county when it comes to Top 300 VARs (13.4 per million inhabitants).

Yorkshire has 4.6 Top 300 VARs per million inhabitants, meanwhile.

Cliff Fox, COO of Pure Technology Group, which was ranked 154th in the report, said Leeds could arguably rival Manchester as a jewel in the northern tech industry as Channel 4 relocate to the city this year and several other media companies relocate from London.

"Business is thriving and the M62 corridor is a fertile business growth area," he said adding that the north is no longer under-served by the channel.

"Historically it has been, but this has changed and is developing apace. It's two hours by train to London and technology itself has changed things," Fox (pictured) said.

"While the Thames Valley is still techcentral, the reach nowadays is so much bigger. 'Leeds Live it Love it' as the banner says."

As a rule, more rural areas tend to have fewer VARs per inhabitant, with Wales and Scotland boasting just 1.9 and 2.6 Top 300 firms per million inhabitants respectively.

Somerset, Cumbria, Northumberland and Cornwall are among the counties home to no Top 300 VARs at all. The latter lost its sole representative of the 300, £8.5m-revenue, Penryn-based Datasharp, because it was among the resellers that dropped down to small company accounts in its most recent fiscal year following a change in reporting rules by HMRC.

More densely populated counties without a VAR include Leicestershire, although it must be noted that in each of these counties there will be a thriving community of local heroes who are not large enough to report their revenues and therefore fly beneath the radar of this report.

For details of how to purchase VAR 300 or become a CRN Essential subscriber, you can email Jessica Richards at [email protected].