Shopping

Gmail

More

Sign in More

“It’s the fi rst time Google has done something like this on this scale in the UK, and potentially the world”

I

t started out almost as a joke. ‘Silicon Roundabout’ was the affectionately deprecating term used until recently for the handful

of web technology start-ups based in offi ces near London’s shabby Old Street roundabout. No one’s laughing now. Google’s arrival in March, when Chancellor George Osborne opened the doors to its seven-storey Google Campus premises in nearby Shoreditch, gave the ultimate stamp of approval to this rapidly growing and increasingly infl uential concentration of young technology fi rms in an area now known as Tech City. Complete with the obligatory quirky decor of tech start-ups, and pot plants that ‘tweet’ when they need watering, Campus underlines Tech City’s justifi able claim to be leading contender for the title of Europe’s digital capital.

The site aims to provide a ‘one-stop shop’ for tech start-ups, says Eze Vidra, Google’s head of Campus. Google will work with other start-up initiatives, including TechHub and Springboard (a start-up venture unrelated to this publication) to create the critical mass needed to ensure this cluster of fi rms becomes self-sustaining. “It’s the fi rst time Google has done something like this on this scale in the UK, and potentially the world,” says Vidra. He likens Campus to an open-source operating system that all comers can use for their own as well as mutual benefi t. Google will provide facilities, mentoring from its own people, contacts and the resources of start-up facilitators Seedcamp and Central Working, which will be in permanent residence on the site’s Bonhill Street premises. “Some of the 800 start-ups that have

already applied for desks here will be able to access a wide range of facilities from legal to operational advice,” adds Vidra. “If an entrepreneur is coming from Amsterdam, Berlin or Tel Aviv, I want Campus to be the space they can work from, from day one. “What’s missing right now in the UK

is the density of network, but we have all the components to succeed; the concentration of so many like-minded people will create serendipity. That sounds cheesy, but it really happens like that.” Campus’ establishment underscores the long-term commitment the search engine giant is making in this part of London and to the UK in general.

Google is also in the advanced stages of planning a move across the capital to nearby King’s Cross, once the lease expires on its Buckingham Palace Road premises in 2016. It plans to take 725,000 sq ft of offi ce space just north of King’s Cross Station. Beyond the doors of Google Campus,

Europe’s new digital capital is fast taking shape in this resurgent corner of east London. In a very short space of time, the presence of just 15 tech fi rms has come to number 700, according to some estimates. One of these companies, Trampoline

Systems, believes up to 10,000 technology workers operate in the cluster. Although a relative newcomer, Tech City is maturing fast. Building on the success of early pioneers, including Last.fm (bought by CBS for $280m), the area’s fi rst generation of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists have exited and are investing in the next wave of innovators. Talent and cash are fl owing in from all over the world. Crucially, large technology players, including Amazon, Cisco and Intel, are backing Tech City, along with the UK Government at the highest level. The Prime Minister and senior Cabinet

members such as Business Secretary Vince Cable have repeatedly endorsed the cluster and backed it with £400m in development investment. Supporting measures include entrepreneur visas, R&D tax credits, capital gains tax relief measures and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme.

springboard | 37