"Technology innovation in particular must play a huge part in the future of the UK economy. It's no secret that the tech industry finds it difficult to hire people with the right skills - especially in areas such as Maths, Science and Statistics - and this poses a serious threat to growth."

He added: "If we don't act now to up-skill our workforce, we'll end up losing out to countries like China and India, where the level of investment in tech skills is on the rise."