London’s reputation as one of the world’s major tech hubs is in jeopardy as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

London’s reputation as one of the world’s major tech hubs is in jeopardy as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

At the start of the last decade, a cluster of start-ups began to form around East London’s Old Street roundabout (technically a gyratory system), leading the area to be nicknamed “Silicon Roundabout.”

Then-British Prime Minister David Cameron latched onto their success and branded the area in and around the hipster Shoreditch neighbourhood “Tech City.”

Since then, London’s tech ecosystem has expanded to other corners of the capital including King’s Cross and the West End. Today, tech companies and their employees span the entire city.

Homegrown start-ups like DeepMind, Shazam, Revolut, and TransferWise have become well-known names in their respective industries, while U.S. tech giants including Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple have also set up huge new offices for thousands of staff.

But the coronavirus pandemic is threatening to change the landscape.

Given the very nature of their work, tech firms can often embrace remote working far more easily than companies in other industries.

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