By Tim Ferguson, 13 April 2007 13:51
NEWS
London is the top European city for technology and IT companies to invest in as they look to take advantage of the city's global talent pool and breadth of businesses.
The capital's technology sector is currently worth £27bn with annual growth of around six per cent, according to the city's foreign investment agency Think London.
Almost half of all Californian investment in London during the last five years has come from IT and telecommunications companies.
Marc Hardwick, research manager at Think London, said: "London's ecosystem is very attractive."
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The convergence of a number of important industries has been another boon for tech companies looking to invest in the capital, according to Think London.
Several major advertising, marketing and media operations are based in the city while there is also a world-class R&D sector.
In addition, London's role as a leading international financial centre means businesses have easy access to investment capital, said Hardwick.
Other major international cities such as New York and Tokyo are struggling to compete with the breadth of sectors found in London, Hardwick added.
London plays a significant role as the gateway into the European market but also possesses a very cosmopolitan and diverse business community.
Hardwick said: "Where London does well is it's incredibly internationally focused."
London won't be able to compete with cities in India or other developing countries in terms of cost, he added, so will have to continue to offer the best infrastructure and people.
Comments
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1. Diogene
Objection your honnor. This is a UK-centric view of Europe. Another view on the "reality" is that all IT firms with their European HQs in London have a massively British work force and do a very poor job - on average - at supporting the true European busines. In addition, the UK does not have a single truly significant medium-size Software firm (but has a very small number of remarkable niche players). The future of the European IT industry is definitely not centered on London but are our English friends willing to recognize this?.
2. anonymous
oh dear Diogene , sounds like sour grapes to me ,a touch of envy perhaps because Germany isn't shortlisted ........