South is the new East: Croydon Emerges as London's Fastest Growing Tech Cluster

LONDON, March 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

The London borough of Croydon in south London is fast emerging as the capital's fastest growing tech and media cluster, with the sector boasting 23% growth since 2011 - the year the riots rocked the town centre.

Led by tech stalwart Dotmailer, Croydon is now home to 185 major TMT firms, with more than 1,300 employees, including VideoGamer, Europe's largest independent video game site, and games developer HotGen.

The rate of growth outstrips the wider London region by a third, helped by initiatives including the council's 'Rate Free for a Year' campaign, which gives free business rates to company's moving or expanding to Croydon and the borough is also rolling out a superfast broadband voucher scheme to offer connection facilities for SME to upgrade their service.

Jonny Rose, founder of Croydon Tech City, said: "Initiatives like Free For A Year are a boon to our vibrant tech cluster in Croydon Tech City. It's an incredible opportunity for early-stage tech start-ups who are finding themselves priced out of East London to get accessible and accommodating office space without having to worry about cost." 

Councillor Vidhi Mohan, Cabinet Member - Communities and Economic Development at Croydon Council, said: "The growth of the TMT sector in Croydon has been spurred on by the council's £3.5 billion investment in the city centre, including 28 new parks and public spaces and major improvements in and around East & West Croydon stations."

The council's works are additional to the £1.5 billion Whitgift Centre development, a joint venture led by Hammerson and Westfield under the Croydon Partnership. The project is a major new mixed-use development incorporating London's third Westfield shopping centre and is expected to go before Croydon's planning committee before the end of the year.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Croydon has seen 23% growth since 2011, higher than the London (17.1%) and the UK (11.3%) averages over this period. (ONS: UK BUSINESS: ACTIVITY, SIZE AND LOCATION: 2011 - 2013).

Croydon has 185 Tech and Media businesses with 1384 employees in the city centre (ONS: Business Register and Employment Survey 2012)