Silicon Roundabout

This weeks Campaign magazine runs a feature on the cluster of established and start-up Creative Agencies located around the Old Street / Shoreditch triangle, and in particular the Tea Building. Our office has been at the heart of this area for the last 5 years with a window onto Boundary Street and the ever changing landscape of E2. I agree with Anne Cassidy when she says "The energy in the area is palpable". I've lived and worked in this area for over 10 years, and in the last 12 months the effect of this micro industry on the streetscape has been at it's most evident.

The 'Tech City Map' being created by Charles Armstrong to show the interdependency of it's community of companies sounds interesting, but what of the impact and dependency outside of it's own community? The new coffee shops, restaraunts, art galleries, clothes shops, fashion houses, vintage furniture shorooms etc that have all popped up as a result of the 'energy' and sense of community also rely on these new and established businesses. I'd be more interested to see how the success of this creative community has spread, helped change the local environment and local economy.