Cyndi Himmelstiere on the changing demographic of the Old Street roundabout, the substantial corporate gravity of the King’s Cross redevelopment, and what is, in the absence of the tech sector, filling the space
The Old Street roundabout, which was, for substantial portions of the past fifteen years, marketed to the broader UK public as ‘Silicon Roundabout’ and which housed, in its surrounding streets, a substantial concentration of UK technology start-ups, has, over the past five years, undergone a substantial demographic shift that has, in my view, been substantially under-reported. Building on my earlier dispatches at Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, I want to write today about where the tech bros have gone, and what is now in their place.
The Departure
The substantial concentration of UK technology start-ups around Old Street has, in the past five years, substantially relocated. The relocation has been, in the typical case, towards King’s Cross, where the substantial corporate development of the past decade has produced a substantial cluster of office space whose physical, financial, and amenity characteristics are, in important respects, substantially better than the equivalent space around Old Street.
According to The Evening Standard, recent reporting on the London technology sector has documented the substantial migration of UK technology operations northwest. The migration, observers argue, reflects substantial cumulative effects of multiple factors, including substantial corporate-real-estate considerations, substantial talent-pipeline considerations, and what observers have described as the broader category of substantial preferences for the King’s Cross amenity environment.
What Has Filled the Space
The space the tech sector has vacated has not, in the substantial majority of cases, sat empty. It has, instead, been substantially backfilled by what I would describe as a substantially more diverse mix of operators. The mix includes, by my own observation, substantial portions of the broader UK creative-industries sector, substantial portions of the broader UK professional-services sector, substantial portions of the broader UK media sector, and what I would describe as the broader category of operators whose business models do not, in important respects, fit cleanly into any single sector category.
The result is that the streets around Old Street look, in 2026, substantially less monocultural than they did in 2018. There are still tech operators in the area, but they are no longer dominant. There are also, increasingly, substantial concentrations of design studios, substantial concentrations of substantial UK media operations, substantial concentrations of small-scale manufacturing, and what I would describe as substantial substantial substantial operators whose presence is harder to categorise.
The Pub Question
One of the more under-discussed effects of the demographic shift is the substantial change in the customer base of the pubs around Old Street. The pubs that, in 2018, were substantially full at six in the evening with substantial groups of substantial UK technology workers are, in 2026, substantially full at six in the evening with substantial groups of, well, with substantial groups of people who are substantially more difficult to characterise.
This is, in my view, a good thing. The pubs are, in human terms, substantially more interesting to drink in than they were five years ago. The conversations one overhears are, on substantially all measurable dimensions, more diverse. The pubs are, in some respects, returning to a substantial older social function, in which they served as the meeting point for substantial mixed populations of substantial different occupational groups, rather than the substantial single-sector watering holes they had become.
The Property Question
The substantial property-market effect of the migration is, dear reader, complicated. The substantial commercial rents around Old Street have, in some respects, softened, reflecting the substantial reduction in tech-sector demand. According to The Guardian, recent reporting on the London commercial-property market has documented substantial patterns of post-pandemic rent adjustment across substantial portions of the East London commercial estate.
The softening has, however, been substantially offset by substantial residential-market pressures. The substantial young professional population that the tech sector previously dominated has, in significant part, been replaced by a substantial young professional population from other sectors, with substantially comparable purchasing power. The residential rents have, accordingly, not substantially fallen, even as the commercial rents have softened.
What This Tells Us
I have written before, in my previous columns on East London demographic change, that the substantial story of the past two decades in this borough is, in important respects, a story of substantial sectoral cycles. The substantial tech sector replaced an earlier substantial cluster of substantial publishing and advertising operations. The substantial publishing and advertising operations replaced, in turn, substantial earlier industrial uses. Each cycle has, in its time, looked substantially permanent. Each cycle has, in due course, given way to the next.
This is, structurally, the East London condition. The neighbourhoods are, in important respects, substantially adaptable. They absorb substantial sectoral concentrations and they survive their departure. The character of the neighbourhood is, in the end, substantially shaped by but not substantially determined by whichever sector is currently dominant. The pubs persist. The bagel shops persist. The mural at the end of Hoxton Square persists. The substantial occupational composition of the people walking past them shifts.
What I Hope
I hope, dear reader, that the substantial post-tech Shoreditch is allowed to develop substantially diverse occupational composition rather than being substantially backfilled by another single sector. The substantial monocultural Shoreditch of the late 2010s was, in substantial respects, a less interesting place to live than the substantially mixed Shoreditch that preceded it. The substantial post-tech Shoreditch has, in 2026, the opportunity to be substantially more interesting again.
Whether it actually achieves this depends, in important respects, on the substantial property-market dynamics of the next five years. If the substantial commercial rent softening continues, the substantial diverse mix of small operators that has, in some respects, started to fill the space will be substantially able to consolidate. If the substantial commercial rent softening reverses, the substantial diverse mix will be substantially squeezed out, and another substantial single-sector concentration will substantially form. I do not, dear reader, know which way it will go. I am, however, watching closely.
For more of my dispatches from this end of the borough, you can find me at my page on The London Prat.
For satirical takes on tech-as-cultural-question, see The Daily Mash.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
