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New tech company established every hour in London since 2012

A report released today by property specialists JLL has underlined the growing importance of the tech and media sector to London’s economy.

The ‘Disruptive demand – Tech and media in London’ report, which looks at office space take-up by tech firms in the capital between 2012 and 2015, has found that a new tech company was set up every hour in London in the last three years.

The figures also highlight the growing dominance of East London in the city’s tech landscape, with areas such as Silicon Roundabout at Old Street, as well as Aldgate and Shoreditch, experiencing explosive growth in the number of tech and media companies in their respective boroughs.

In fact, JLL’s figures show that for every tech and media company that opened in the hotbed areas of Aldgate, Clerkenwell and Shoreditch, a further two moved in to take their place.

Taking commercial floorspace into account, the figures show that tech and media companies almost doubled the amount of leased floorspace in the period, adding 4.5m sq ft in three years, taking the overall numbers to 7.9m sq ft.

Following the release of the report, Michael Davis, Head of London Unlimited at JLL, commented: “The occupier migration East is underpinned by the desire to be close to other pioneering companies and amenities. Fundamentally this is the part of London where the lion’s share of undergraduate and postgraduate talent now resides. Every company is vying for the brightest minds.

“This continual in-migration is shaping the area that stretches from Kings Cross to Aldgate. Larger companies want more advanced buildings, whilst retaining an element of the ‘cool’ that made the areas desirable in the first place.

“As London property costs have risen over the past market cycle it has caused occupiers to work their spaces harder in an attempt to preserve their cost-effectiveness. However, it is not without its pitfalls with more embryonic companies looking further afield as the affordability question still rages on.”

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