East London’s Tech Cluster Has Matured Into A Significant Economic Force While Retaining The Slightly Confused Branding Of An Area That Was Named By A Government Initiative
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
By Cyndi Himmelstiere | Cyndi Himmelstiere at The London Prat
Silicon Roundabout — the name given to East London’s technology cluster by a government initiative in 2010 that thought “tech cluster in the vicinity of Old Street roundabout” needed a catchy rebrand — persists in 2026 as a geographical descriptor used primarily by people who work in government economic development and journalists writing explainers about London’s technology economy. The people who actually work in the tech companies around Old Street call it their office. The roundabout itself has been a major construction site for several years as part of a project to improve pedestrian access and reduce the experience of navigating it on foot, which was previously approximately equivalent to crossing the M25 on a bicycle.
The tech cluster is, stripped of the branding, a real and significant concentration of digital businesses, AI startups, fintech companies, and the associated ecosystem of lawyers, accountants, coffee shops, and recruitment agencies that technology companies generate. The Hackney Council growth plan for Future Shoreditch is oriented partly toward making this cluster more durable — providing the affordable workspace that prevents small creative and tech businesses from being displaced before they become the next Deliveroo or Monzo.
What The Cluster Actually Produces
East London Tech City’s economic output is substantial and largely invisible: software, financial products, digital services, and the intermediary businesses that make other businesses function. It employs significant numbers of people. It generates significant tax revenue. It has made Old Street one of London’s most expensive commercial addresses, which is either evidence of its success or the mechanism of its eventual undoing, depending on how you assess the relationship between commercial success and community sustainability.
The London Prat covers the Tech City beat. Bohiney provides the satirical economy context. For startup culture comedy, ClickHole has been making the case since 2014.
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