20 Jul 2017

Forget Silicon Valley

Gemma Church at Huckletree explains why White City in West London really is the perfect place for tech entrepreneurship to flourish.

White City is reinventing itself as a hotbed for technical innovation with exciting new developments to seduce entrepreneurs to the west side of the nation’s capital.

The regeneration of White City includes a new Imperial College London campus, the expansion of Westfield London into Europe’s largest shopping centre, a new members house featuring a rooftop bar and pool at the iconic Television Centre and the vibrant business district White City Place.

Forget Silicon Valley, Europe’s tech clusters can be stronger together

Here are five key benefits the White City area will bring to tech startups and entrepreneurs:

Access to a flexible workspace accelerator

Affordable office space in London is a rare commodity – and often viewed as a luxury for many of the city’s startups. So, workspace pioneers Huckletree are opening a new Huckletree West site dedicated to the needs of digital lifestyle startups and entrepreneurs.

Due to launch in September 2017, Huckletree West will be a pioneering hub for creative startups targeting business growth through tech innovation. Its 500 members will get access to 30 private studios, 150 dedicated desks and 100 hotdesks, giving the city’s digital lifestyle startups plenty of flexibility and expansion opportunities.

Huckletree already has two London sites in Shoreditch and Clerkenwell, with another site planned in Dublin, placing the company as a real tech startup champion

Exceptional transport links and location in the city

With five stations serving 42.5 million passengers annually, White City has one of the highest ratings for public transport accessibility in London and is perfectly positioned between the city’s central regions and Heathrow airport.

The area is served by London’s extensive bus and road routes, and both the underground and overground services. Such strong transport links will give you direct access to your suppliers, clients and London’s talent pool, as well as the world stage. For example, Canary Wharf is only 32 minutes away, Heathrow is 30 minutes away and Euston, King’s Cross, Victoria and St Pancras International all have a travel time of just 20 minutes.

One of London’s most connected areas

The technical stats for White City are particularly impressive. White City Place has achieved WiredScore Platinum certification for pre-enabled connectivity and its sophisticated infrastructure is already connected to the highest tier data centre communications providers. This gives your startup unprecedented opportunities and flexibility with regards to its evolving technology needs.

Each of the major communications providers are also on-site including Abovent, BT Openreach, Colt, EU Networks, Verizon, Virgin Media and Vodafone. Installation is simple: you just need to choose a system, then go live. And the internet is eye-wateringly fast, with speeds of up to 10GB.

Bleeding edge innovation at its very heart

Startups at every early Seed stages and ideas fresh out of the laboratory are encouraged at White City. For example, the new White City Campus from Imperial College London will bring together world-class researchers and businesses to address global challenges in areas including energy and healthcare. It’s creating spaces for startups and entrepreneurs to work alongside the college.

The college recently opened a 18,000 sq ft incubator to provide state-of-the-art laboratories and office spaces alongside an incubation programme, which will help startups and companies spinning out of Imperial College to grow and develop.

A great selection of inspirational facilities

Whether you want to pop into Portobello market or the gym, the White City area houses a range of exciting facilities, from leisure and culture to shopping and restaurants. It’s the perfect location for entrepreneurs to relax, eat, drink and meet clients in its community of like-minded operators.

White City also collaborates regularly with the RCA (Royal College of Arts) to showcase a range of inspiring art installations and even took on artists Craig and Karl to transform a derelict petrol station. It’s a fun space that’s sure to inspire you.

That’s the true beauty of White City

It brings together a truly unique mix of science and tech, fashion and media businesses at every stage of maturity to help your startup explore, grow and succeed in a range of sectors.

Such diversity and scalability will inspire and allow west London’s technical startup scene to develop in a way the city has not seen before.