The ‘Cambridge Phenomenon’ revisited: aggregate change among Cambridge high–technology companies since 1985

Abstract

Recent aggregate data on small high–technology firms in the Cambridge area are summarized and the situation is compared with that prevailing in 1985 by tracing companies included in an earlier study by Segal, Quince, Wicksteed. Failure rates have been low and there has been incremental growth among these firms, although the scale remains small: no more than 10% have over 50 employees and only one new firm has over 250 employees. High–technology employment in the county stood at about 23,000 in 1992. There has been substantial investment in these companies through acquisition, including many foreign acquisitions. The proportion of firms in service activities has increased; there is no evidence to support the theory of a ‘soft’ to ‘hard’ development route. In specializing in technology–generating services, Cambridge firms have been inventive and adaptable, but the narrow scope of their activities, associated with resource shortages, may prevent many of these firms from obtaining maximum return from technology transfer.