A British exit from the European Union would have little or no impact on the UK’s tech community, according to industry experts.
The consensus was reached at a meeting of property and tech leaders hosted by Canary Wharf Group’s tech accelerator company Level 39 this morning to discuss the influence of the sector on property.
Juliette Morgan, head of property at Tech City UK, and a partner at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “Technology is not a respecter of geographic boundaries. I suspect it will blink and miss the whole thing [Brexit].
“Unless it forms an impact on the regulatory environment, I don’t think there’s going to be a massive response from the tech industry around being in or out of Europe.”
The round table attendees also debunked the popular mindset that start-ups were the sole catalyst for place-making. They pointed instead to arts and culture as the leaders, adding that an authentic creative scene can be a beacon for new tech companies looking for a base.
“Authenticity, as well as arts and culture, is what makes a place,” said Morgan. “Hackney Wick has the biggest concentration of artists in London and there’s something in the fabric of that place that tells you it’s creative and you are allowed to do something there.”
Ben Goldsmith of King’s Cross, N1-based venture capitalist investors Balderton Capital, added that once tech firms have followed the creatives they often do then have the power to become the catalyst for a community to follow. But he suggested that this was more by accident than design.
He said: “Tech companies are almost like the light brigade in that where they go, others will follow. But that’s not because tech is so cool and they know everything that others don’t. It’s because they seem to have more elasticity as businesses and they are not fundamentally based on footfall.
“And then other companies, coffee shops and co-working spaces cluster around them. So they do get to some places early, but there is a fundamental reason for it.”
On the subject of future trends to look out for in tech in 2016; smart cities, virtual reality and cybersecurity were highlighted as the ones to watch over the next 12 months.
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