Responding to the news that American supercomputer giant Cray Inc. has opened its European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters at the company’s new office in Bristol, Rick Chapman, high tech sector specialist at inward investment agency Invest Bristol & Bath, said:
“Cray’s decision is testament to the fact that the Bristol and Bath region is seen globally as an economic powerhouse and the home of a world-class high-tech cluster.
“The region has a rich heritage and associated skill set spanning an array of high-tech disciplines including cloud computing, multicore processor design and high speed communications, areas of technology integral to the development of cutting-edge innovations such as supercomputers, autonomous cars and robots.
“It is also a key hub for innovation in high performance computing, which is hailed as the future of data processing, so it is not a surprise that Cray has chosen Bristol as its European base.
“Having the company’s EMEA HQ and research hub located in the city adds another string to Bristol and Bath’s bow and will undoubtedly attract further inward investment into the region.”
A global leader in supercomputing, Cray is behind the new Met Office supercomputer in Exeter, set to be one of the largest in Europe and already has strong links with the Bristol tech ecosystem, including with Bristol University.
Cray is just the latest in a string of global tech businesses to set up a base in the Bristol and Bath region, joining the likes of Just Eat, Somo and Huawei.
Other examples of recent investment by global businesses in the city include South African giant MMI Holdings acquiring home-grown fintech company Blue Speck Financial and Twitter snapping up Bristol-based tech firm SecondSync.
Meanwhile, the Bristol and Bath region was last year highlighted by McKinsey & Co/Centre for Cities as having the only fast-growing and globally-significant high-tech cluster in the UK, while Bristol was recently chosen to host a testbed for cutting-edge Future Cities technology, including driverless cars.
