imagine your tech business in london
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IMAGINE YOUR BUSINESS IN LONDON
WHY LONDON FOR TECH
WHY UK FOR TECH COMPANIES
• The UK is the most internet enabled economy in the world 8.3% of GDP, forecast to grow to 12.3% in 2016.
• London is the biggest European city on Facebook – 4th in the world
• One of the Twitter capitals of the world (based on individual accounts) with 80% of UK users accessing Twitter on a smartphone
• Largest adoption of smartphones in the world, likely to overtake desktop access at some point this year
• 1 in 5 Londoners own a tablet, 40% of the UK are saying they will buy one in the next year (highest desire in the world bar China)
• 1 in 8 people in London work in the creative industry – second to finance
• London produces groundbreaking digital work: Hailo taxi app, Badoo 156m users, Moshi Monsters 35m users
Data courtesy of Poke, a leading Tech City digital agency
WHY LONDON FOR TECH COMPANIES
CLUSTER: London’s IT sector is the largest in Europe 40% of IT companies in the UK have chosen London as their
base London is home to major Mobile telecommunications
companies – Orange and Nokia 22,000 IT businesses in London, three times its nearest
European rival, including a significant new technology cluster in east London.
700% growth in technology companies starting up in east London in the last three years
EXPERTISE: Access to a pool of 540,000 experienced IT professionals and
technology graduates. London’s universities focus on IT R&D with world class IT
related university research being carried out at:• Imperial College, University College London(UCL), City University,
Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Royal Holloway.
• London Metropolitan University
• Birkberk College• Imperial College London• London Southbank University• Kings College London• London School of Economics• University College London
LONDON UNIVERSITIES OFFERING IT BASED COURSES
TECH CITY: LONDON’S GROWING TECH CLUSTER
“OUR AMBITION IS TO BRING TOGETHER
THE CREATIVITY AND ENERGY OF
SHOREDITCH AND THE INCREDIBLE
POSSIBILITIES OF THE OLYMPIC PARK TO
HELP MAKE EAST LONDON ONE OF THE
WORLD’S GREAT TECHNOLOGY CENTRES.”
DAVID CAMERON
UK PRIME MINISTER
TECH CITY: LONDON Tech City is the fastest growing tech
cluster in Europe – now over 3,000 companies. www.techcitymap.com
It stretches from Shoreditch and Old Street – on the fringe of The City of London, to the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London.
Grew organically without government intervention
Tech City Investment Organisation set up to promote the area:
www.techcityuk.com
TECH CITY
WHO IS IN TECH CITY?
First UK investment from Sequoia Capital of $10millSold to Twitter for $40mill
Sold to CBS for $280mill
Sold to Nokia for $22mill
Bought by Microsoft for $1.2bill
Tech City firm valued at >$200mill Google global first – special hub for startups
INITIATIVES Networks
Universities
Recruitment
Mentoring and investment programme
Training and classes
INITIATIVES Open Data Institute
• co-directed by Professor Tim Berners-Lee and Professor Nigel Shadbolt, developed by the Technology Strategy Board
• to drive innovation and exploit the growth opportunities for the UK created by the government’s Open Data policy www.theodi.org
Future Cities Centre• Agreement by UCL, Imperial and Cisco to create centre for research -
bringing world-leading academics and research to the capital• The focus is on mobility, smart energy systems, business model
innovation and the internet of things, and it'll also be a part of Cisco's national virtual incubator.
Intel – offering free supercomputing access to startups
TECH CITY CONNECTIVITY
Area Travel Time
London City Airport 27 minutes from Liverpool Street Station
Heathrow Airport 39 minutes from Moorgate Station
Stansted Airport 45 minutes from Liverpool Street Station
Gatwick Airport 42 Minutes from Moorgate Station
St Pancras Station (for Eurostar)
9 minutes from Old Street Station
Central London (Oxford Circus)
10 minutes from Liverpool Street
Source: Transport for London
• The core Tech City area centred around the Old St roundabout is well served by public transport links, with connections to underground, overground and national rail services all within easy reach via Old Street, Shoreditch High Street, Liverpool Street and Moorgate stations.
• The table below provides a summary of travel times from these locations to some of London’s key transport connection hubs for access to Europe and the rest of the world.
Travel times from Tech City to key transport hubs
ECOSYSTEM All in 1 city 85 out of 100 top interactive agencies are located in London Two thirds of international ad agencies have their European HQ in London Second in terms of ad revenues to New York VC capital of Europe Major film and music industry - the O2 contributes over £400m to London’s
economy every year Large consumer base – 8 million London, 60 million UK, 500 million Europe
INVESTMENT Angels in the City
• The UK has the best tax breaks for angel investors in the world
City Meets Tech www.citymeetstech.com
Attracting VCs• Index announced new late stage fund on 9th Nov
Reinvention of seed funding• Initiative by Anil Hansjee, ex head of corporate
development Google EMEA
Online platforms and crowd funding• filling the super-early stage capital gap
Encouraging recycling of wealth
LONDON GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FinTech Innovation Lab London – Accenture and Technology
Strategy Board, 12 week programme, entrepreneurs work with senior bank executives to develop their products.
Enternships.com – work placements in startups for ambitious graduates
Computer Club for Girls Involvement in shaping IT degree provision with London
universities Junior Techmeetups Open data released by TFL e.g. bus checker app Apps for Good and Facebook
INCUBATORSStartups need low cost office space – indeed that’s why they originally moved into places like Shoreditch. TechHub, The Trampery, Accelerator, Hoxton Mix and Innovation Warehouse all offer low cost desks (between £200-300 per month), plus support, events, access to finance and the networking community. Companies like moo.com also offer desk rentals to startups.
BUSINESS SUPPORT R&D tax credits increase from 200-225% Entrepreneurs visa Patent Box Improved Controlled Foreign Company rules Corporation tax reduction – lower than
Germany and US Entrepreneurs relief from Capital Gains Tax doubled Enterprise Investment scheme tax break increased from 20%
to 30% More sensible cost effective legal structure than other
European countries around:• Data protection, IP, Company registration
WHY INVEST IN TECH CITY THE PLACE: At the heart of London, the leading international business hub
and the number-one European location for IT. THE BACKING: Commitment from government; backing from industry,
banking and academia. THE CASH: Access to London’s world-leading financial services sector and
Europe’s largest VC community. THE SPEED: Cutting-edge ICT, digital and creative facilities, including those
available at the Olympic Park post 2012; priority area for superfast broadband.
THE TALENT: Access to an established and growing community of tech-focused companies and people.
THE CONNECTIONS: World-class international transport links, with Eurostar rail terminal and major airports close by; proximity to leading technology universities.
THE BUZZ: Vibrant multi-cultural commercial and social scene, creating a buzz to generate new ideas and innovation and attract the best talent.
“EAST LONDON HAS AN INCREDIBLE BUZZ AND A REAL CONCENTRATION OF TALENT. IT’S A GREAT PLACE TO BE TO HELP YOUR TECH COMPANY
GROW AND THRIVE.”
ELIZABETH VARLEY CO-FOUNDER & CEO,
TECHHUB
TECH CITY BUZZ“I’ve been in London for six years and the tech scene has never been as vibrant as it is
now. As a VC who has to pick what to invest in, it’s getting harder and harder because
there are so many great companies to choose from…and that’s a really good sign.”
Sitar Teli, a Senior Associate
Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures
“There’s a buzz in London at the moment, and that energy and optimism is only going to
grow over the coming months as we build up to the Olympics in 2012. One of the UK’s
strongest industries is its creative sector – and it’s the coming together of content
creators with people from a more tech based background that’s one of the most exciting
movements going on in London right now.”
Oli Madgett, co-founder of We R Interactive
Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, is excited by the exploding start-up scene
focused on Old Street's Silicon Roundabout, where he has seen "a lot of energy and a
lot of people doing interesting things". London's "geographical proximity" and vast
cultural offerings beat the "sprawling and empty" Silicon Valley.
Source: thenextweb.com June 2011
KEY NETWORKING GROUPS TechMeetups http://techmeetups.com Minibar www.meetup.com/minibar Silicon roundabout meet-up www.meetup.com/SiliconRoundabout Silicon roundabout social club
http://www.meetup.com/SiliconRoundaboutSocialClub Drinktank - "free, high quality meet-up for members of the tech community
in London" http://www.meetup.com/drinktank Silicon drinkabout http://www.facebook.com/SiliconDrinkabout
www.silicondrinkabout.com Digital sizzle – Tech City creative meet-ups http://www.thedigitalsizzle.com Hoxton Mix mixer www.meetup.com/The-Hoxton-Mix/events Tech Hub http://www.techhub.com Flagons Den (Innovation Warehouse) http://london.flagonsden.com Mashup (Innovation Warehouse) http://www.mashupevent.com/events TechStartHub - provides networking & training http://
www.techstarthub.com/calendar
KEY NETWORKING GROUPS (CONT) Shoreditch Business Networking - more general business networking
http://www.syob.co.uk/business-networking/Shoreditch Angels in the City www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/angelsinthecity City Meets Tech http://citymeetstech.com Hacker News www.meetup.com/HNLondon Open Coffee Club http://www.meetup.com/londonocc London Start-up weekend http://www.meetup.com/LondonStartupWeekend Tuttle Club – “Co-creating a Social Media Café for London”
http://tuttleclub.wordpress.com Internet of Things (IoT) meet-up, London http://www.meetup.com/iotlondon Good for nothing – “creative collaboration”
http://goodfornoth.ning.com/events Open Soho – creative networking http://www.opensoho.com Product tank – product management for digital & tech start-ups
http://www.producttank.com The Up Group - an elite, pre-screened talent network of high-flyers, both
companies and individuals www.theupgroup.co.uk Skills Matter – community of software engineers http://skillsmatter.com/
KEY NETWORKING GROUPS (CONT)
General Assembly London – London arm of hugely successful New York campus http://london.generalassemb.ly/
Google Campus – first of it’s kind co-working space in Tech City http://www.campuslondon.com/
Dreamstake network for entrepreneurs http://www.dreamstake.net/ Intellect - the leading trade association which serves to represent its
members in the UK technology industry www.intellect.org Innovation Warehouse http://www.theiw.org/
FIND THE BEST TALENT: RECRUITMENT http://www.techcityjobs.co.uk/ www.chinwag.com – job board www.monster.co.uk www.reed.co.uk www.jobstrovit.co.uk Hacker News Stack Overflow Git Hub Gumtree Jobsite and Jobserve LinkedIn and Twitter Skills Matter supports a community of 35,000 Software
Professionals with the learning and sharing of skills to write better software. http://skillsmatter.com/
ITJobswatch for up to date job market size and rates. http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/
Silicon Milkroundabout http://siliconmilkroundabout.com/ Silicon Milkroundabout is the free jobs fair to match the UK's start-ups with the best developers, product managers, and designers.
Specifically Java developers: http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/london/java.do
And a community here: http://www.meetup.com/Londonjavacommunity/
For Ruby on Rails (RoR) developers: http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/london/ruby%20on%20rails.do
There is a user group too which is very active: http://lrug.org/ Monochrome - a leading London based RoR developer
http://www.monochrome.co.uk/ruby-on-rails-development/?gclid=CMGLjuf4ga4CFUcTfAodPSwW4g
Thoughtified - spin-out from Univ. Surrey http://www.thoughtified.com
Several East London universities are teaching courses in
software development : London Met:
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/depts/cctm/software/adv_comp_apps.cfm
City: http://www.city.ac.uk/courses/short-courses?query=web%20programming
UEL: http://www.uel.ac.uk/undergraduate/specs/games-technologies
QMUL: http://www.elec.qmul.ac.uk/study/courses/elem039.html
Greenwich: http://www2.gre.ac.uk/study/courses/pg/com/cgse
Ravensbourne http://www.rave.ac.uk/ General Assemb.ly http://generalassemb.ly/locations/london/
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