Google

News from Google

  1. About Google
  2. News from Google
  3. U.K. news announcements
  4. News announcement

Google takes seven-floor building in Tech City to support East London’s start-up community

London, 28 Sept 2011 – Google has signed a lease for a seven-floor building in East London, the first step in its commitment to support the Tech City start-up community.

Google plans to open up the space to other organisations that support technology entrepreneurs, working together to provide a launchpad for new London-based start-ups and developers. This is the first initiative of its kind for Google anywhere in the world.

Securing a lease is the first stage in making Google’s commitment to Tech City a reality. The building, at 4-5 Bonhill Street, London EC2A 4BX, will now undergo a full refurbishment before being ready to open in 2012.

In addition to providing space for other organisations that work with start-ups, the building will host a range of activities, such as speaker series, hackathons, training workshops and product demonstrations for engineers who could benefit from Google’s knowledge of building large scale online services.

This is an entirely new initiative, and Google UK’s existing operations will remain in their current offices in central London.

The lease runs until at least 2022.

David Singleton, Engineering Director, Google UK said:

“We announced our involvement in the Tech City project last year, and we’ve been working hard to make this vision a reality. Finding a suitable building is the first major step, and we hope to announce more details about the organisations we’ll work with and how they will use the space in the coming months. East London is already home to hundreds of innovative British start-ups, and has huge potential for economic growth and new jobs over the coming years.”

Eric Van Der Kleij, CEO of the Tech City Investment Organisation, said:

“Google is a terrific example of a major technology business that understands the importance of nurturing as well as benefiting from the communities where they operate. This investment will pay dividends for them as well as contributing to the long-term success of the Tech City, and we are delighted to welcome them to the area.”

Labels: ,