| East London unlikely to be next Silicon Valley |
| Monday, 22 November 2010 06:33 |
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Any attempt to mimic Silicon Valley is destined to do no more than produce a rather poor reflection. Any attempt to mimic Silicon Valley is destined to do no more than produce a rather poor reflection. Cameron’s plans to transform the East End of London into a major hub for the world’s technology companies have been met with wide approval. However, some believe that his speech, which was heavy on vision but light on detail, promises much but will deliver very little for UK start-up companies.Andrew McErlain, co founder of start-up company elitemarket.com is unconvinced by Prime Minister Cameron’s pledges and calls for substantive and meaningful assistance for start-ups. He strongly believes that these latest proposals need to be put into context and should not be allowed to obscure the wider issues with regard to the UK’s ambition to be a significant player in the global technology industry. McErlain believes that this latest initiative is just another illustration of the complete absence of a considered and co-ordinated strategy for entrepreneurial companies: “As the joint founder of an innovative web business, I believe that we should not be seeking to replicate Silicon Valley but create something exciting and new that draws on the strengths of the UK. "Any attempt to mimic Silicon Valley is destined to do no more than produce a rather poor reflection. Just think about the scale here; Mr Cameron produces a budget of £200m whereas the VC funding into Silicon Valley in the last quarter alone was $4.8 billion and the quarter prior to that $6.9 billion (total $11.7 billion in the six months to 30 September 2010). They are operating on a totally different scale. "If we really are serious about encouraging entrepreneurial technology start-ups we should also think about some of the basics – like reducing the awful burden of employment law on small employers which will only get worse with the EU leading the way to non-competitive employment structures. Mr Cameron may also like to consider really encouraging start-ups with some clear and simple tax breaks – those incentives that currently exist are enshrined in so much anti-avoidance statute and regulation that they are a waste of time.” Elitemarket.com, a UK based Start-up Company, is at the forefront of the development and innovation of the online luxury market, and has created a unique interactive browser-based environment, showcasing some of the finest luxury products. As the first ever company to create a virtual interactive browser based environment, elitemarket.com is unique in the UK market. The entrepreneurial, risk-taking, approach which is vital to Silicon Valley’s success, is very different from the far more cautious stance adopted by the UK and European markets. This high quality virtual environment was created in the middle of the recession when the luxury market was failing – the co-founders had the foresight to recognise the potential of this market, but took great risks in the spirit of innovation, investing their own money into this venture.
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