It’s been 3 years since the Government announced “Tech City”, a new name for the already existing cluster of tech companies residing in East London.
Launch events were held, media announcements made, and policies put in place to help spur the growth potential of this economic seedling.
The Government repeatedly uses the phrase “breaking down the barriers” when talking about Tech City, painting a picture where entrepreneurship is enabled by the removal of bureaucratic obstacles by Government.
But how effective has the Government’s Tech City policy been?
A little less conversion, a little more action
Looking back to January this year, the Government announced a new policy that would allow shops and offices to be converted into homes without planning permission, in an attempt to ease the housing crisis.
In February, a coalition of startups petitioned the Government to grant Hackney an exemption from the new rules, arguing they would drive up the price of office space in the area, making it harder for small businesses and startups to get off the ground.
By May, they’d got their wishes. Whether taking the initiative or simply reacting to the pressure, the Government exempted Hackney Council from the changes.
This leads us to consider whether the Government is actually breaking down barriers, or inadvertently creating more.
Bio or non-bio?
Much growth in Tech City, in my view, has been organic and not due to Government support.
Entrepreneurs are not the kind of people to sit around waiting for Government policy to aid them with doing business, and Tech City UK agrees:
The cluster of tech, digital and creative companies was growing organically in East London and will continue to do so, regardless of Government intervention.
But the Government has had some successes. Two policies in particular, the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, are seen to have unlocked unprecedented amounts of capital for early stage startups.
Tech City and its startups may grow organically, but Government initiatives like this are much needed to spur that growth so those companies can compete on a global scale.
Connecting the dots
With so much PR noise around Tech City, it can be easy to forget that there are plenty of other more established tech clusters in the UK.
Cambridge houses over 1,500 tech companies, 12 of which have achieved $1bn valuations in the last 15 years. The combined turnover of tech companies in Cambridge was £11.8bn in 2011, making it one of the biggest, oldest and most successful tech clusters in Europe.
There’s more. Digital content and ICT industries account for around 45,000 jobs in Greater Manchester and generate around £2bn annually in economic output. Newcastle, Brighton and Bristol also have established tech clusters.
So it would be hard to argue against the fact that Tech City is too London-centric and would do well to collaborate with other technology clusters from around the country.
Maybe Government policy should change, letting Tech City entrepreneurs and companies get on with building what they’ve already started, and instead look at how they can include the wider UK cities and regions in Tech City’s success.
Dominic Campbell is Founder and Director of FutureGov, which works with local authorities to make better public services through the use of elegantly designed technology.