Today we officially launch our Greater Manchester Tech 50 list in association with EY- unveiling the biggest players in the city region's thriving digital scene.

In September, Manchester was crowned the UK's most impactful tech hotspot outside of London, and all this week, we are revealing our free list of the city's biggest tech firms - ahead of a special roundtable discussion on Friday, attended by a panel of industry experts.

Taking place on Friday, September 10, they will discuss the growth of the city region's digital and tech sector, and celebrate the firms leading the field in the region.

READ MORE: How we compiled our Greater Manchester Tech 50 list

We are revealing the Greater Manchester Tech 50 list in five parts, starting today - with the first 10 firms making up numbers 50-41 in our big countdown. They include innovators such as those working in cloud and managed services to wearable tech to media.

Sign up for our virtual event here - and subscribe to our emails here to get the rest of the Tech 50 sent straight to your inbox.

As part of the list, each day we will feature comment, analysis and advice from EY's team of experts. Today, partners from the professional services giant discuss finance for sustainable growth - which you can read in full below.

Our Greater Manchester Tech 50 list is being revealed this week

Here is the start of our big Tech 50 list - starting with numbers 50-41.

50. MAK International Ltd

Kicking off our Tech 50 is Oldham-based MAK International. Led by CEO Ahmed Khan, not a great deal of information about this business is available - other than Companies House defining it as a firm working in "other IT service activities".

End date for latest accounts: August 31, 2020

Turnover for latest year: £2,183,741

49. Evaris Solutions Ltd

Evaris Solutions provides IT support and tailored tech solutions spanning infrastructure, cloud and managed services. Headquartered in Heywood, it serves as an IT partner for private and public sector organisations, including the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Sky and the BBC.

End date for latest accounts: December 31, 2019

Turnover for latest two years (most recent first): £4,023,197; £2,283,357

We are unveiling our Tech 50 list all this week

48. That's Media Group Ltd

Salford-based That's Media Group is a television programming production and distribution firm. It runs stations in regions across the country - including Manchester and Lancashire - as well as its That's TV Gold station on Freeview.

End date for latest accounts: December 31, 2019

Turnover for latest year: £4,138,856

47. Sorted Group Ltd

This delivery software firm runs online checkouts, warehouses and shipping in 12 countries - aiming to "fix the broken carrier/retailer relationship" from its Manchester HQ. Earlier this year, it raised £11m to fund future growth.

End date for latest accounts: September 30, 2020

Turnover for latest three years (most recent first): £4,324,000

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46. Micad Systems UK Ltd

Altrincham-based Micad Systems UK allows estate and property management professionals to make decisions, maximise ROI and support operations. It does that through its tech platform, which takes precise CAD drawing information and translates it into baseline data that can be used by connected applications from finance to asbestos software.

End date for latest accounts: September 30, 2020

Turnover for latest three years (most recent first): £4,344,649; £3,869,160; £3,792,450

45. Business Computer Projects Ltd

This Stockport-based firm provides design and installation of computer software and hardware. Its system aims to provide end-to-end supply chain solutions helping business leaders manage their firms more effectively - from buying and warehouse management to finance and reporting.

End date for latest accounts: September 30, 2019

Turnover for latest three years (most recent first): £6,254,911; £5,126,312; £4,896,841

44. So Purple Group Ltd

Tech innovation firm So Purple was launched in 2012 "out of frustration for poor guest WiFi connection" - and has become an offline tool for firms to understand, identify and improve guest experiences. Based in Chadderton and with offices around the globe, its leadership team includes former Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy.

End date for latest accounts: January 31, 2020

Turnover for latest three years (most recent first): £7,010,732; £6,161,185; £4,360,690

43. Invosys Ltd

Coming in at number 43 and based in Walkden, Invosys claims to be a "new generation of innovator" - creating new communications technology solutions for firms in the UK and beyond. Today, it provides a platform accessed by thousands of customers, with millions of numbers that receive hundreds of millions of calls a year.

End date for latest accounts: September 30, 2019

Turnover for latest three years (most recent first): £8,448,401; £11,517,195; £10,879,989

42. Trolex Ltd

This Stockport-based firm offers a wearable, self-contained dust monitoring device aimed at saving time, money and lives. The progressive business wants to become the leading name in safety technology, with products deployed in over 100 countries.

End date for latest accounts: December 31, 2019

Turnover for latest three years (most recent first): £8,590,686; £8,042,820; £7,141,902

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41. Firstcom Europe Ltd

This telecommunications service provider rounds off our first 10 Tech 50 firms. Based in Bolton, it provides a range of business solutions for firms of all sizes. Its systems are hosted on the cloud - helping firms share thoughts, ideas and information.

End date for latest accounts: December 31, 2019

Turnover for latest three years (most recent first): £8,867,140; £5,090,248; £8,068,962

Focussing on Finance for Sustainable Growth - the view from EY

The last 18 months has brought a particular focus on technology and technology-enabled businesses with rapid migration to digital technologies. This is expected to continue as businesses progress with their recovery strategies, write EY Corporate Finance Partners Mark Clephan and Rebecca Rennison.

This week’s unveiling of the GM Tech 50 list offers an opportunity to touch on two key areas of focus for leaders of tech and digital businesses. The first of those is how to fund your business to drive sustainable growth.

Investors are viewing fast growth businesses, with technology focussed strategies with favourable interest. And, whilst, technology has always been a hugely competitive area now more than ever investors want to see how incorporating new technology within a business strategy can result in rapid and accelerated growth for the business. A business’ resilience at the outset of the pandemic showed good business management but being able to demonstrate rapid growth in the latter half of 2020 and into 2021 is particularly attractive for investors, which has driven valuations higher.

As a business grows and scales up, management needs to consider various forms of funding. The following provides an overview of those funding options such as:

Venture Capital (VC) and Private Equity (PE) have record levels of capital to invest where they see clear opportunities for value creation. The pandemic has driven premium pricing for high-quality assets that were resilient to market uncertainties.

Businesses are being asked increasingly challenging questions and are expected to provide efficient, detailed responses.

As part of a deal process, management teams that are well prepared have the highest likelihood of a successful outcome at the best value.

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Globally we have seen an explosion in Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) driven by Special-Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs).

With the introduction of changes from the Hill Review, which was published in November 2020 and recommended major reform to the UK listing regime, to attract the most innovative and successful firms and help companies access the finance they need to grow, we are likely to see the emergence of UK special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).

In the short term SPAC activity in the UK will be driven by US SPACs seeking to execute deals before they run out of time and need to return cash to their initial investors.

Closer to home, the themes around the attractiveness of tech scale ups are the same, with many UK companies looking to go public amid favourable conditions.

For many tech businesses, given their shorter track record and less mature financial history, this will mean articulating the market opportunity and ensuring there is data on key KPI’s to tell the right story and drive value.

For businesses seeking investment, the key aspect is preparation. Scale-ups should think about how they can frame their business plans in ways that will increase investor confidence.

A balance between ambition and deliverability must be appropriately struck to ensure investors are excited by the opportunity. Spending more time on preparing a strategy, and on legal preparation stands a business in far better stead.

Why EY?

EY has a North West focused Corporate Finance team who are ‘relationship-driven’ with our focus on working with clients to achieve their business and shareholder objectives over the long term.

To discuss funding in your scaling tech business, whether that is venture capital, IPO, trade sale or Private Equity then reach out to Mark Clephan and Rebecca Rennison.

Subscribe to our BusinessLive North West newsletters here to receive the rest of the Tech 50 list as it's released, and sign up to our virtual roundtable event here.