Despite rumblings of recession, the UK fintech sector isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. In fact, according to recent research conducted by PwC, the UK now ranks third globally in venture capital invested in fintech, behind China and the US.
During 2021, Britain’s fintech industry attracted a record £9.5bn in investment – nearly half of all investments in Europe.
Additionally, the UK has a higher-than-average consumer adoption rate when it comes to neobanking and fintech products and services.
While London has been deemed to be the dominant “superhub”, nine other areas have been identified as locations of high growth.
Edinburgh and Glasgow, Manchester and Leeds, and Birmingham have been identified as “established clusters”, while Newcastle and Durham, Wales, Cambridge, Bristol, Reading and Northern Ireland have been assigned as “emerging clusters” as per the government’s 2021 Kalifa Fintech Review conducted in association with Deloitte.
So, what does this mean for banking and tech professionals on the ground who are looking for ways to accelerate or future-proof their careers? The bottom line is that the sector is ripe with opportunity in the UK with many of the 2,500 fintechs hiring now.
Below, discover some of the UK’s fastest-growing companies that are on track to keep on progressing by investing in talent and increasing their headcount. And as always, you can find many more on the Growth Business job board.
Fintechs hiring now
#1 – Marshmallow
Insurtech Marshmallow recorded a growth rate of 659.8 per cent this year and achieved unicorn status in September 2021, having raised £61m in funding.
In May 2023, it reported four per cent growth compared to the previous year and is currently valued at £1bn. It’s also the second Black-founded unicorn in the UK, and co-founders and brothers Oliver and Alexander Kent-Braham, along with CTO David Goaté have set their sights on disrupting the insurance industry.
Since its launch in 2015, Marshmallow has offered affordable options to those who have recently moved to the UK. The company is now recruiting for various positions including a data scientist, motor claims specialist and executive assistant in London. Or you can check out more opportunities here.
#2 – Starling Bank
Since the start of 2022, Starling Bank has increased its headcount by 20 per cent to over 2,000 employees, and the neobank has no plans to slow down. Its lending portfolio of £4.7bn also continues to grow.
Speaking about the company’s plans to scale without turning to investors, CEO Anne Bowden has said: “Many start-ups and scale-ups are having difficulty raising funding now. And it’s fair to say that for a while some private market valuations became inflated, with predictable consequences for some. Starling, though, is different. We’re profitable, very well capitalised and have no need to raise money.”
With offices in London, Southampton and Cardiff, Starling is hiring across various banking and tech roles including a full stack developer, card fraud & scams operations manager and due diligence officer. See additional roles, here.
#3 – GoCardless
GoCardless is one of the fastest-growing UK fintechs, and in 2020 was recognised by Deloitte in its UK Technology Fast 50 list.
In 2022 it secured $312m (£250m) in funding and was valued at $2.1bn (£1.7bn), which bestowed European and UK unicorn status upon the company. GoCardless processes £20bn in transactions per year and currently works with some of the biggest organisations around the world including Klarna, DocuSign and TripAdvisor to process payments.
From a talent perspective, GoCardless has grown its headcount exponentially in recent years – by 85 per cent to be exact. View all open roles at GoCardless, here.
#4 – Zilch UK
In November 2021 Zilch became one of the fastest-growing double unicorns in Europe and was registering 250,000 new customers every month.
In June 2022 it secured an additional $50m (£40m) in funding which has been used to accelerate further growth, and has launched in Miami in the US, with over 150,000 pre-registered customers.
It also has plans to hire accordingly to support this launch and is currently hiring for three roles in London – a senior ML ops engineer, UX copywriter and UX researcher. See more details here.
Aoibhinn McBride has been a lifestyle journalist and editor for over 10 years, Aoibhinn has written for titles in Dublin, London, New York and Dubai.
More on UK fintechs
5 UK fintech start-ups to know about in 2023 – Check out these five UK-based fintech start-ups, specialising in sustainable debit cards, managing debt, API and more
