All Roads Lead to Silicon Roundabout

 25th Sep 2014

As a new start up, securing competitive and flexible office space was one of our top priorities and key challenges.  Our main search criteria was location and when we started to research it became apparent that there was only really one place to look, Old Street, also known as Silicon Roundabout.

With over 2,000 start-ups, 30 accelerators and 48,000 people employed in the digital economy, Silicon Roundabout in East London is the central hub of the UK digital start-up scene, and Europe’s number one start-up hotspot.

Silicon Roundabout has been on a steady upward curve over the past 10 years, but since 2011 this has exploded, thanks largely to the Government backed Tech City initiative, a £50m investment which is being driven by former Facebook executive Joanna Shields.

Tech City supports entrepreneurship in London and across different tech industries throughout the UK, while also promoting London and attracting big American players, such as Google.  Success has come with companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft (Yammer), Intel, Cisco and Qualcomm following in Google’s wake, London is establishing itself as the gateway to Europe.

The scheme also has also made it easier for companies by introducing a number of tax incentives, such as lowering the tax rate for start-ups from 28% to 20%.

With so many start-ups and so many companies enjoying sustained periods of growth, finding the right talent has become extremely challenging.  The government has tried to tackle this with the introduction of the ‘Entrepreneur Visa’, making it easier to attract international talent into the country, however recruitment remains one the key challenges facing the digital sector.

So setting up Pivotal London’s first office in the heart of the UK’s digital economy is a logical decision and we look forward to engaging with London’s digital business community and tackling this challenge head on.

David Terry, Founding Director, Pivotal London