Sports Interactive is relocating to London's Here East hub

Here East has announced that one of the world’s biggest developers of football management games, Sports Interactive, is relocating its entire operation to the East London campus.

The developer of the famous Football Manager series will move its 100-strong workforce from its current Old Street base to capitalise on the opportunities for collaboration and innovation offered at Here East.

Sports Interactive, which is wholly-owned by the Japanese video game giant SEGA, will take 13,415 sq ft in Here East’s Broadcast Centre, on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, commented: “It’s fantastic news that Sports Interactive is choosing to relocate to Here East, which is fast becoming a leading technology and innovation hub in London.

“Being based alongside other successful businesses and startups at Here East is a real open goal, presenting opportunities for collaboration on new ideas and products to grow quickly and contribute to London’s economy.”

Sports Interactive will use the space for all of its business functions, including game development, R&D and communications.

Here East is a 1.2m sq ft campus for established businesses, startups and creatives to collaborate on new ideas and deliver the products and services of the future.

Sports Interactive joins the Here East community with ambitious plans to partner with existing tenants including BT Sport and Plexal.

Earlier this month leading bookmakers Ladbrokes Coral announced its plans to establish a technology and innovation hub on the campus, while Ford Motors is opening its European Smart Mobility Office on site.

Luxury fashion retailer, MATCHESFASHION.COM, is also relocating part of its operation to Here East, further adding to the cluster of brands and sectors being cultivated.

Miles Jacobson OBE, studio director of Sports Interactive, said: “We love the fact that Here East is right in the sweet spot where sport and technology meet.

“We’ve already collaborated with BT Sport on a video project and we’re very much looking forward to similar collaborations with more of our new neighbours when we move to the complex in spring 2018.

“We’re confident that our move to Here East will help us to shift our operations to the next level… We’re helping with the regeneration of the area, maintaining the Olympic legacy and giving our team a better chance to afford to live near the office are all added bonuses.”

Gavin Poole, chief executive of Here East, concluded: “Successful companies work across many sectors; they collaborate, they learn from each other, and they innovate together.

“Sports Interactive’s move epitomises the spread of London’s technology and creative sectors eastwards, out of their traditional homes in Shoreditch and Silicon Roundabout, and into new collaborative digital campuses such as Here East.”

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