The digital technology sector is set to be the fastest-growing in Greater Birmingham's economy over the next five years, new research predicts.

Property group JLL and business consultancy Tech City UK says it will add £1.1 billion in GVA to the wider city region's economy by 2022.

The analysis looked at eight areas in England, Wales and Scotland where significant digital clusters have come forward, identified current and emerging property trends affecting the tech sector and assessed whether conditions favoured landlords or tenants.

The report highlights Birmingham Research Park, Fazeley Studios, Innovation Birmingham Campus and the Custard Factory as tech start-up hubs.

Kelvin Craddock, director in the national office agency team in Birmingham at JLL, said: "We expect Greater Birmingham's tech sector to increase its gross-value added contribution to the economy by 21 per cent to £1.1 billion by 2022 and the tech workforce to grow by six per cent to 15,400.

"It's intriguing the Custard Factory was the original catalyst for the Digbeth cluster and is still the largest hub of digital and creative talent outside London.

"Its continued presence has also helped make Digbeth a flourishing location for new ventures. We are starting to see start-up companies looking to upgrade and move to more prime office space.

"In Birmingham, we've seen companies such as Advanced relocate to the city, creating 400 jobs, with other occupiers currently seeking space in the city, adding to further inward investment.

"The talent pool available is certainly encouraging companies from outside of the city, and particularly London, to consider moving to Birmingham."

Mr Craddock said that, while there was sufficient space at the moment to accommodate rapidly expanding tech ventures, companies needed to start planning their moves now to take advantage.

He added: "We also need think about as an industry and city the type of space we bring forward, with co-working and more exciting, flexible space being a key draw for the tech sector.

"We've started to see more examples of this, with buildings such as The Assay Office in the Jewellery Quarter creating exciting working environments that encourage companies to interact.

"(But) to really attract the big tech giants, we need to replicate this type of space and working environment in areas such as the city's core, within buildings that offer the resilience and profile demanded by larger tech firms."