Charting a course from Tech City to Silicon Valley

Post date: Feb 02, 2017 10:26:57 AM

Inner East London, the location of the Silicon Roundabout, also known as Tech City, had the fastest growing local area economy in the nation last year, according to the RBS regional growth tracker. RBS chalked up the win to the rising number of professional services and digital jobs in London, which propelled the capital ahead of runners-up Milton Keynes, Aberdeen, Cambridge and Herefordshire.

All in all, Inner East London experienced an estimated growth of 5.2 per cent year over year. This healthy figure contributed to the quarter-over-quarter expansion of 0.7 per cent observed in London between Q3 and Q4 of last year – a full 0.2 percentage points above the national average.

“The TMT sector – technology, media and telecoms – has been a sweet spot for London for a number of years now and that shows no sign of stopping,” commented Roger Fenwick, regional director at RBS.

London tops the charts in earnings as well as job numbers

Not only is the number of digital jobs available in the capital on the rise, but Londoners employed in full-time IT positions make considerably more than their counterparts working in other areas of the United Kingdom.

“The predictions of Tech City turning into the next Silicon Valley are becoming increasingly prevalent.”

As we noted in a previous article, research from Experis revealed that full-time IT workers in London earned an average salary of £52,982, well above the £41,594 netted by professionals in the No. 2 city, Cambridge. Given that the tech sector in London – particularly within the Silicon Roundabout area – seems to be going from strength to strength, it’s hardly surprising that the predictions of Tech City turning into the next Silicon Valley are becoming increasingly prevalent, but are they premature?

“Tech City is a relatively recent phenomenon and it takes years for those essential ingredients of talent, capital and infrastructure to coalesce and create something special,” warned The Telegraph’s Alex Wood in an op-ed on the subject penned earlier this year.

With five years in the bag, Tech City is raring to go

Reaching the heights of Silicon Valley may not happen in a flash, but that isn’t to say the possibility should be discounted entirely. After all, as Wood observed, Silicon Valley had a significant head start.

“Whether you think it overhyped or not, Tech City has achieved significant traction in only five years, in comparison with Silicon Valley’s 50,” Wood wrote. “With this thrusting young tech industry rivalling the embedded financial sector in terms of contribution to Britain’s GDP, it is surely only a question of when, not if, the next billion-dollar startup is born.”

Companies on the hunt for a digital guru to help give them an edge as the capital’s tech district continues to flourish may wish to consult IT recruitment agencies in London to help them find their perfect match.