Nearly 10 months have passed since the Home Office put the contract to take over from Tech Nation as the Global Talent digital technology endorsing body out for tender, and we have been waiting for a meaningful update. We suspect that the old adage no news is good news probably doesn’t apply here.
Whilst there remains no sign of a successor to Tech Nation, the details of the tender were updated just recently, extending the deadline to apply, and increasing the estimated total value from £7.5M to £11.68M (excluding VAT). The commencement date has also been brought forward from 1 May 2025 to 18 March 2025. We might be reading too much into it, but we do have to wonder if (a) the Home Office is struggling to find a suitable candidate that is willing and able to take over from Tech Nation and (b) Tech Nation is losing the appetite to continue to May.
The Home Office estimates that around 3,150 customers apply for endorsement in the digital and technology field, and the value of the contract, over the core three-year contract period plus any extensions, is expected to be in the range of £5.7m – £15.4m, with an estimated contract value of £11.68m. Given the current cost of applying for endorsement is £524, and it is not clear what portion goes to the Home Office coffers, could this high estimated value indicate that the Home Office is hoping for an increase in the number of applicants under the Global Talent digital technology route in the future?
When the Home Office does find a suitable successor, there’s no doubt that they will have big shoes to fill. For a decade Tech Nation has helped bring some of the world’s best innovators to the UK, having shaped and promoted the route since the visa was first launched as the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa back in 2014. In that time the route has brought over 5,000 brilliant brains to the UK, and become fundamentally important to our tech sector. In fact, an influx of skilled global talent (helped by increasing levels of investment) has helped fuel a 10 year success story for the UK tech sector, and in 2023 the UK tech sector reached a combined market valuation of more than $1 trillion. That represents an 8x increase in value over the past decade, up from $133 billion in 2014, and an almost 2x increase in value compared with five years ago.
It’s clear that the Global Talent route is of vital importance to bolstering the UK’s tech sector, and will no doubt become more important as the Home Office continues to restrict other visa options for entrepreneurs. While Tech Nation have done a brilliant job, as we approach the age of a new endorsing body we find ourselves thinking about what changes that new endorsing body could make so that the route is optimised to attract the talent that the UK still both wants and needs. As we prepare for a new endorsing body, this marks the start of a series of short blogs will examine just that, and hopefully make some helpful suggestions so that this can truly be a world leading visa route!
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If you have any questions, please contact Elli Graves in our Immigration team.
about the author
Elli joined Kingsley Napley in August 2018 and is an associate in the immigration team. Elli works in the private client immigration team where she advises a broad range of clients across both immigration and nationality matters.
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