Loading...UK’s largest megalopolis, famous for many tourist attractions, is also known for its vivid and dynamic business environment. The UK’s capital regularly storms the headlines with news that London-based companies received £1.8 billion in tech investment.
Meantime, London hosts Europe’s largest accelerator with 300+ startups. London Universities are front and center in top 10 of the World University Rankings, due to this fact the city supplies the job market with qualified full-time & freelance developers.
If you are looking for a place that would allow continuous growth & development, in this case, London is the one. So, what features make this city so alluring?
London: A Metropolis Designed for the Creative Work
London, or as some call it, The Square Mile, referencing the business and financial district of the capital, led the industry in 2018 hosting over 40% of all UK tech startups.
If you are an entrepreneur looking for a lucrative location to set up shop or a freelance developer in search of a productive workspace, then “Silicon Roundabout” just might be the destination for you. The startup cluster located in the Eastern part of the metropolis, for quite some time, has been attracting the attention of many tech business headquarters including giants like Google and Microsoft.
In 2018, London registered £1.8bn invested in tech - more than any other European capital.
Young freelance developers and entrepreneurs in London opt for co-working spaces in London for a host of reasons including:
- Affordability – the price of a private office starts at £1,400+ per month.
- Flexibility – you can always upgrade your membership to have more options when you want them.
- Opportunities – most co-working spaces organize a range of meetings, trainings, mentoring sessions, etc.
- Community – the ability to network with like-minded individuals who have different backgrounds and professional expertise.
This is why The Dock, a co-working space in the city, is listed on the global top 10, top-notch spaces for professionals like freelance developers. The Dock is situated just 10-minute walk from Tower Bridge and offers its residents private offices seating from 12 to 50 people.
In 2018, the London tech ecosystem was voted the 2nd most connected in the world with 25% of the world’s entrepreneurs verifying connections to 2 or more others based in the capital.
Top Tech Graduates are from London!
According to the Global University Employability Ranking 2018, 5 out of 15 UK institutions mentioned in their list are in London:
- Imperial London College
- King’s College London
- UCL
- London Business School
- London School of Economics and Political Science
In 2018, 46% of students studying at Imperial London College were enrolled in the Engineering field.
Major Game-Changers for Business & Economy in London
Some areas of the London economy making major strides are tech, cybersecurity, Fintech, design & creative industries. Since 2011, investors have supplied the tech sector with £28 billion. What makes this city so attractive to players in these fields?
- Leading Global Hub for startups & international companies. Over 50% of companies in the FinTech50 are from London including Habito, Azimo & Curve.
- Government Support. Since 2016, the UK Government has started investing in the National Cyber Security Strategy, which will bring in £1.9bn to the sector.
- Dynamic Blockchain Market. London holds 16% of the career opportunities in blockchain’s global share.
Considering the fact that London produces 21% of Europe’s fast-growing unicorns, it has become the self-proclaimed tech capital of the continent. 36 of the 169 European unicorns with a total value of $132bn are residents of London.
At the same time, London is the top cluster emanating from research conducted by Global Innovation Index 2018 within the Top 50 countries, which once again highlights this metropolis’ innovative character.
London: Start-up Opportunities
As residents of a financial epicenter like London, start-ups get access to a multitude of different financing opportunities:
- Passion Capital has invested in over 100 companies
- Seedcamp provided $2 Bn+ to 300+ startups
- Startup Funding Club SEIS Fund
Average rates for Freelance Developers in London
- PHP developer (£400),
- Java Developer (£550),
- JavaScript Developer (£500),
- Mobile Applications Developer (£465),
- QA Tester (£438)
There is no doubt that London is full of incredible opportunities and offers your business a huge potential to expand. At the same time, you can always choose an option that suits your project needs. If you are looking for a freelance developer with suitable experience who will naturally become part of the development team, then London is leading the list of places to start.
Not ready to waste your time & efforts on the recruitment process? Tell us more about your mission and SkillValue will take it from here.
