One of the key concerns raised by Tech City companies during the Prime Minister’s visit to Tech City last November was the availability of suitable, flexible and affordable office space in East London. To address this, yesterday morning the Prime Minister met with property developers and public sector organisations to discuss:
1. a new planning strategy for Tech City, which is being prepared by the Mayor’s office to stimulate the growth of the technology cluster, and will be published before the end of the year
2. the regeneration of Old Street roundabout, for which a feasibility study is being prepared for publication later this year, funded by a number of partners
3. innovative approaches to supporting start-up businesses seeking space to grow on flexible terms, like the GLA scheme to provide a guarantee to developers of flexible office space in Tottenham through the London Enterprise Partnership
These steps will, we hope, begin to address some of the issues identified by local businesses around the property landscape of the area.
Policy measures such as the Entrepreneur Visa and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme were created in response to the needs and concerns of the Tech City community. So, keep giving us feedback and suggestions on what would help the cluster flourish and we’ll pass these onto the policy-makers.