London’s creative and technology-led businesses are outgrowing their traditional city centre tech-hubs and moving to new locations on the outskirts of the capital, a new report claims.
According to the Bilfinger GVA-published London and the Knowledge Economy survey pioneering firms and start-ups in the biomedicine, technology and creative industries are seeking new areas of opportunity in “alternative boroughs” — often acting as catalysts for regeneration as the new clusters evolve and grow.
“London’s economy has always been a hub for innovation,” explained Chris Hall, senior director in the planning, regeneration and development team at the commercial property adviser. “From the development and manufacture of industrial products in the Upper Lee Valley through to the invention of innovative financial instruments in the City, London has led the world in terms of technology-led products and services.
“Today is no different,” he added, “from digital technology and software development to the creative arts and biomedical research, London’s companies continue to be at the cutting edge in their fields.”
Hall claims the location and success of this growth is being shaped by a much wider set of investments. One of the biggest, he said, was the capital’s new Crossrail network which would connect new clusters and provide fast and direct access between Canary Wharf, the West End and Heathrow for the first time.
“Ensuring the knowledge economy has room to grow is also vital for the future health of London’s economy,” said Hall, adding that: “Higher education investment by University College London, Imperial College London and Loughborough University are creating new opportunities at White City and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
“Providing the appropriate types of infrastructure and workspace, on attractive terms and in well-connected locations will be key to maintaining London’s position as a global knowledge hub and a place to do business.
“However, capacity and property costs mean that London will not be able to do everything alone, and improved relationships with established knowledge hubs will be key to ensuring London can continue to make efficient use of all its resources,” he said.
A separate report, earlier this year, showed that it was an increasing problem for technology clusters outside London and the south east to attract investment and get advice on how to run their businesses.
The publicly funded Tech City report — which examined 21 clusters up and down the country from Brighton in the south to Dundee in Scotland — found that a third of companies admitted that access to finance was a “challenge”.
The businesses also expressed concern at the lack of skilled workers, with the issue remaining serious outside the south east. One third of those surveyed said that a lack of local talent was one of their biggest barriers to growth.
With 74 per cent of the UK’s digital firms based outside London, the disparity between the south east and the rest of the country is keenly felt, said the Tech City report. There were 1.46m people working for digital companies across Britain last year, but nearly 555,000 of those were employed in London, with Bristol and Bath combining to form the UK’s second biggest tech and digital cluster and employing 61,653 people between them.
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