Britain's answer to 'Silicon Valley' demonstrates its fitness

By Vicki Owen, Financial Mail On Sunday

PUBLISHED: 16:36 EST, 20 July 2013 | UPDATED: 16:36 EST, 20 July 2013

The market for technology firms is thriving in Britain's answer to Silicon Valley with figures showing more than 15,000 new ventures were set up last year in London's Tech City.

UHY Hacker Young, the accountancy group behind the figures, believes that Tech City, a hotspot of technological expertise near Old Street roundabout, shows how clusters of industry-specific enterprises can drive growth and encourage more firms to set up in an area.

In contrast, 1,510 firms were set up in 2012 in Warrington, Cheshire, the postcode outside London with most new firms.

Colin Jones, a partner at UHY Hacker Young, says: 'The area around Old Street has been an emerging business destination for some time thanks to relatively cheap rents, but since the internet and app industries started to colonise the area, new business creation has taken off.'

Shara Tochia, 28, founder of Fitness Freak, based her firm at Google's working space for tech start-ups, Campus London, near Old Street roundabout, as she wanted to draw on the technical expertise of others.

She said: 'My background is fashion and I have taught fitness classes for ten years. I'm not technical, but I had the idea that people should be able to find and book fitness classes through one site as easily as they can book a table at a restaurant through Toptable.'

Since launching last year, her site has built up listings of 7,000 classes a week in London. Shara charges 10 per cent commission for every booking.

She said: 'Campus London is an affordable, fantastic location with lots of opportunities to pitch the business to investors.

'I have met fantastic mentors through Google events and I hot desk, which means I pay £375 a year for access. As a non-tech person, the opportunities are second to none.'