IT Jobs in London’s Silicon Roundabout and Tech City

The term Silicon Roundabout refers to the high number of web businesses located near the Old Street Roundabout (also in East London), and is a reference to Silicon Valley in California. 

This is often considered part of London’s Tech City, which is the third largest start up cluster in the world. It is located in East London between Old Street and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. The terms East London Tech City, Tech City and Silicon Roundabout are all referenced as part of one.

The original term "Silicon Valley" references the Santa Clara Valley in the San Francisco Bay area, where a number of technology companies are based. It now often describes the US tech sector as a whole, and has given rise to several international ‘imitations’.

The creation of the Tech City in London began in 2008 where 15 media and hi-tech companies formed within close proximity of each other and the Silicon Roundabout; this created the heart of the Tech City. The growth of London’s Tech City accelerated rapidly and in 2010 David Cameron announced that entrepreneur Eric Van Der Kleij would lead the growth of the area.  By 2011 there were 200 tech firms in around the Silicon Roundabout.  In December 2012 David Cameron and Boris Johnson announced further investment in the area.

London’s Tech City now accommodates for 5,000+ tech companies including the leaders in the market- Google who have created an innovation hub as well as Amazon, Cisco, BT and Facebook. The growth of London’s Tech City has been rapid over the last 6 years and now attracts some of the biggest tech companies in the world. Since the introduction of The Silicon Roundabout, the number of tech companies in London has risen by 76% and nearly 30% of job growth in London is from the Technology sector.

Silicon Roundabout is also a very important area for start ups with many technology start ups basing themselves in this region hoping to attract the top IT skills. This also creates great competition for the best IT talent in a small area. 

It is estimated that London’s Tech City and the Silicon Roundabout, will add £12bn to London’s economy in the next 10 years. As well as this, it is set to provide London with an extra 46,000 jobs by 2024 so it is clear there will not be a shortage of IT jobs in London’s Tech City and Silicon Roundabout over the coming years.