London’s offers the greatest opportunities for British women in technology, according to research.

Four in ten of the UK’s female tech workforce are employed in the capital and women are 2.5 times more likely to work for a tech startup in London than the rest of Britain, a study of 3,700 professionals by Mortimer Spinks found.

London’s tech companies also lead the way in promoting diversity with almost a third saying they have formal initiatives in place to recruit more women, compared to less than a quarter in the rest of the country.

Despite the tech industry’s progress, other findings suggest there is still a lot of work to be done. One in ten tech teams in London have no female employees and more than half say that less than 15% of their teams are women^.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he aims to reverse the under-representation of women in the technology industry.

“Although the sector is flourishing, it is vital that we actively encourage more girls to work in digital and tech to reverse the under-representation of women in this industry,” he said. “Our current female tech pioneers are the role models for the next generation and as the father of two teenage girls, I want them to have the same opportunities and aspirations.

“I am determined to work hand-in-hand with individuals and employers…to nurture more young female entrepreneurs that will contribute to London’s economic prosperity.”

The Mayor’s calls for greater equal opportunities for women were echoed by separate research findings announced earlier this week by London’s leading private sector technology network group, Tech London Advocates.

A survey of the group’s 3,000 members found 18% of companies within London’s tech community still have no women at board level.

However, London’s tech community is making good progress, with a fifth of tech companies involved in the research claiming to have a female chief executive.

“Technology’s gender problem has not gone away,” said Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates. “Female CEOs have been instrumental to the rise of London’s tech sector, creating some of the city’s most exciting businesses, but the lack of wider representation for women at senior levels is shameful.”

“Simply put, failing to harness the creative potential of those currently under-represented in the industry makes bad business sense.”