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Edinburgh has come in at fourth in a ranking of technology hubs in smaller cities across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

The city came above the likes of Geneva and Brussels in the ‘normal’ cluster category in the report by property consultancy CBRE.

The category ranks cities which have between 20,000 and 50,000 people in high-tech employment, and a higher percentage of employment in the sector than the EU average.

Angela Lowe, senior director at CBRE in Edinburgh, said: “Normal clusters are typically smaller capital cities supported by universities producing a high standard of tech graduates.

“With its financial services sector, reputable universities, and Scotland’s devolved government, Edinburgh ranks highly.”

Ahead of Edinburgh in the category were Oslo (1st), Basel (2nd) and Hamburg (3rd).

The ‘scale’ clusters category, which covers the largest clusters defined as capital cities and business centres with more than 70,000 people in tech employment, sees London take the top spot, while other high ranking cities include Madrid (2nd), Dublin (3rd) and Budapest (4th).

Richard Holberton, Head of EMEA occupier research, CBRE added: “Labour is not only fundamental to the success of the technology sector, it also has distinctive characteristics including a high incidence of contract employment, greater transparency of rewards and use of online channels both for job-checking and brand development.

“In addition, talent perspectives are changing, with millennial workers accustomed to taking risks and often not aspiring to work for large brands. Start-ups, where they can take ownership of a product or activity is where they turn to for advancement.

"Analysis of the characteristics of tech labour markets should be integral to location decisions, and many smaller but fast-growing cities in the EMEA region offer favourable possibilities.”