In 2020, I made the decision to relocate my tech company from London Bridge to Milton Keynes. It wasn’t an easy choice. We’d always been surrounded by major industry players, endless networking opportunities, and every lunch option imaginable. After being in the heart of it all on Southwark Street, I worried about what we’d miss by leaving. But I had a strong and growing instinct that our scale-up journey wasn’t destined to take place in SE1.
Like most companies eyeing a move out of the capital, one driver was obvious – saving on rent. But as we explored our options, it became clear there were far more compelling reasons to leave: better commutes, more space, and a vastly improved work-life balance to name a few. In fact, the benefits were so convincing that, once we’d made the decision and given the team (a lot of) notice that we would be relocating to Milton Keynes, all 90 of our employees decided to make the move with us. We didn’t lose a single colleague.
It’s no surprise that more tech firms are following suit. There was a 16% drop in tech companies launching in London in Q2 of this year, significantly less than the UK average. It signals how a growing number of businesses are looking beyond the capital to set up shop, further evidenced by the ongoing struggles of the London commercial property market….
