David Cameron has announced that the Government will put £50 million towards a project to regenerate Old Street roundabout through the creation of a large “civic space” dedicated to business start-ups.
The new building will comprise classrooms, working spaces, an auditorium, and workshops equipped with cutting edge technology that will be used by start-ups and the surrounding community. The venue will have capacity to train 10,000 students in coding, business know-how and enterprise.
The Prime Minister believes that it is representative of his strategy to “equip the UK to compete and thrive” in the global race.
Since plans to help accelerate the growth of the hub were initially announced in November 2010, the area has seen a rapid increase of interest. Occupancy rates with tech firms are skyrocketing, and there are a number of key players (such as Vodafone, Facebook and Intel) committed to long-term investment and development in the area, with Google’s ‘Campus’ building, which offers tech start-ups seven floors of workspace along with practical support and advice, being the most high-profile.
While the announcement of the civic space is good news for the future of online businesses, the regeneration of the Old Street/Shoreditch area – or ‘Silicon roundabout’ as it has become known – is not without its potential problems.
Many within the community have criticised the scheme as nothing more than a PR stunt by the government, pointing to the fact that a thriving tech community existed in East London long before any government involvement, and have accused the Prime Minster of bandwagon-jumping.
That the scheme is London-centric has angered many, pointing out that London, with rent prices at least 30% higher than the rest of the UK, is counter-productive. This is a legitimate gripe, and raises another important question: as the postcode becomes more desirable, can we expect to see an influx of big name companies moving into the area, serving to drive rent prices up further and force out the young, innovative start ups the scheme hopes to attract?
Regardless, the fact remains while most web-based businesses can be run from virtually anywhere with an internet connection, the idea of a central hub for small tech and online startups is a good one – there is a very real expectation that it will encourage a supportive, collaborative community and, therefore, further innovation, which with inevitably lead to more jobs and a huge growth in the UK’s digital economy.