Silicon Milkroundabout, the only jobs fair for the London start-up community, lures graduates and tech talent from the City

London, 26 September 2011: Where traditional businesses are stagnant, tech start-ups are seeing massive growth. The fast-paced growth of the British tech community has led to a wave of new jobs – many of which can’t be filled quick enough. Through the Silicon Milkroundabout job fair, brainchild of London-based start-up Songkick, more than 100 UK start-ups will come together on the 30^th October to address the problem and offer over 500 jobs to attendees in a single day.

With just 3% of graduates considering a career in tech compared to almost 10% considering work in the city[i], Songkick believes that graduates and software engineers working for big city corporations are unaware of the opportunities and benefits of working for innovative, entrepreneurial start-ups.

Songkick’s Ian Hogarth, CEO, said, “We, along with many of our friends from other start-ups, struggle with the shortage of computer science graduates and experienced software developers. The fact is that many potential candidates aren’t even aware of tech start-ups as an alternative to the more traditional routes of working for a bank, a consultancy, Google, Facebook or Microsoft. In East London, for example, there are 500 tech startups, many eager to recruit the best developer talent. Big corporations spend a fortune on advertising and recruitment, with the effect of drowning out the noise that startups have made until now.

“We have brought back the Silicon Milkroundabout as this message came across clearly during May’s inaugural event, where we were oversubscribed with companies with jobs to fill and with developers and graduates looking for new challenges. By banding together for Silicon Milkroundabout, we are joining forces to show how what we have going for ourselves. Growth in the start-up sector is leading to the creation of new jobs, and by working for a start-up you can directly make a greater contribution.”

Eric Van Der Kleij,  Chief Executive of the Tech City Investment Organisation added, “The technology industry is flourishing in the UK, and digital and tech companies are providing increasing opportunities for employment. While the sector contributes £66.4 billion annually to the economy, one of the biggest challenges is finding the very best tech talent and convincing them that start-ups are the place to be. This is where Silicon Milkroundabout comes into its own – it’s a jobs fair hosted by the very people who are hiring.”

Details of the event include:

• Date: Sunday 30^th October
• Time: 11am – 5pm
• Location: Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, E1
• URL: http://siliconmilkroundabout.com
• Participants include: 100 of London’s top technology startups, together hiring for 500 graduate- through to senior-level developer positions (start-ups include Songkick, Skimlinks, QuBit Group, Acunu, MOO, Mind Candy, Smarkets, Playfire, STRUQ, Me_tail, onefinestay, OpenGamma, BraveNewTalent, graze.com, WhoSampled.com, Funding Circle, Idio, Shazam, Level Business, Decibel, Lyst, colourDNA, Everlution Software, Crane.tv, Pusher, Covestor, viagogo, Hailo, WebMynd, globaldev, Merchenta Limited, 7digital, Rangespan, Masabi, Shutl, Unison Technologies, HouseTrip, Mendeley Ltd., Sidekick Studios and Buddy App, MyBuilder, Diary.com, Yearbook Machine, Adzuna, VouchedFor.co.uk, Last.fm, Stylistpick, Engensa, AEI Media, Duedil, GoSquared, Unruly, JustGiving, INQ Mobile, Artfinder, TouchType, Bossa, Studios, GoCardless, Zolmo, Stackoverflow

***

Contact Information

For Developer registration and further information – if you’re interested in finding out more go to http://siliconmilkroundabout.com

For PR enquiries – please contact Laura Lynne, Sparkpr, +44(0)2073772915 or [email protected]

For Start-ups looking to participate – if you’d like to know more about participating in Silicon Milkroundabout or future events, please contact the team via the website – http://siliconmilkroundabout.com

About Songkick

Songkick, the home for live music on the web, is now the second-largest live music destination after LiveNation. Recognized by Music Week as the Best Consumer Digital Service in 2011, by Billboard Magazine as one of the Top 10 Digital Music Startups of 2010, and voted Best Innovation in BT’s 2010 Digital Music Awards, Songkick makes it easy for fans to track their favorite artists so they never miss them live. Songkick aggregates artist, concert, festival, venue, and ticket information from across 70 countries, so fans can receive personalized alerts for upcoming shows in their town and find the best ticket offers. Fans can use Songkick to share their concert plans on other social networks, and add photos, setlists, and reviews after the show. Songkick’s live music information is distributed across a network of partners including Bandcamp, foursquare, VEVO, Warner Music Group and YouTube through their API. Songkick is backed by Index Ventures and Y Combinator as well as angels from the technology and music industries. Experience Songkick at www.songkick.com and through the Songkick Concerts iPhone app.