Despite remote work and the economic downturn, some companies look to London for expansion – TechCrunch

Barely a day goes by with out information of layoffs rising from the tech world — from cybersecurity to gaming, no business is impervious. It’s not restricted to any explicit dimension of firm, both — every little thing from fledgling startups and scaleups, to billion-dollar public entities reminiscent of Netflix have all “downsized” or put their hiring plans on pause this yr. On high of that, there isn’t a geographical issue at play, with firms spanning North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and past all impacted.

However juxtaposed towards this, some firms appear to be bucking the downsizing pattern by not solely hiring, however opening bodily places of work to accommodate broader enlargement plans.

London specifically stays a key vacation spot for worldwide corporations seeking to unfold their proverbial wings, with U.S. unicorns and public firms revealing inaugural or upsized places of work within the U.Okay. capital in latest months. And nearer to residence, a bunch of smaller European tech firms have additionally prolonged their attain out throughout the English Channel with their first U.Okay. hubs.

Cross-border investments

Knowledge from FDI Markets*, the Monetary Instances’ cross-border funding monitoring service, signifies that London has attracted the best variety of overseas direct investments (FDI) into tech from worldwide firms for the previous few years, forward of Singapore, Dubai, and New York. This consists of worldwide firms which are establishing a presence for the primary time, and people which are increasing an present footprint (this will embrace M&A exercise).

Whereas this information doesn’t essentially inform the entire story, at a broad degree it does recommend that some firms are nonetheless increasing, and London is nonetheless an interesting proposition relative to different main cities.

Janet Coyle, managing director of enterprise development at London’s official publicity arm London & Companions, informed TechCrunch that there are numerous monetary perks which may enchantment to abroad firms seeking to set up a base within the capital. This consists of tax incentives such because the lowest company tax price amongst G7 nations, along with “among the world’s best analysis and growth tax credit,” she mentioned.

“Different incentives such because the Enterprise Funding Scheme, Patent Field Scheme, and the ‘regulatory sandbox‘ make London a super place for progressive firms to check new applied sciences, merchandise, and companies,” Coyle added.

This narrative is supported by one other latest report from actual property big Cushman & Wakefield, which discovered that of the 398 Central London leasing transactions (over 5,000 sq. ft in dimension) it analyzed in 2021, 59 of those have been “new market entrants,” which it defines as new companies organising for the primary time, or these relocating from exterior London. The report added that this was the best quantity it had recorded because it started monitoring relocation traits in 2013.

Whereas it’s unimaginable to disregard the location-agnostic remote- and hybrid-working revolution spurred by the worldwide pandemic, some imagine that firms are turning to London for a similar causes they at all times did — it’s a significant accessible conurbation, and it’s a spot the place folks wish to dwell.

“We count on the post-pandemic evolution of London’s workplace market to proceed as occupiers focus upon simply accessible, top quality workplace area surrounded by vibrant facilities,” Ben Cullen, Cushman & Wakefield’s head of places of work U.Okay., mentioned in a press release in June. “The important thing will likely be about creating areas the place expertise desires to be.”

However this arguably raises extra questions than it solutions throughout what can solely be described as turbulent occasions for the world’s financial system. Why are some firms seemingly swimming, whereas others sink? Does their business, profitability, enterprise mannequin, or monetary independence come into play? And why would possibly the U.Okay. — now economically untethered from its EU counterparts by way of Brexit — nonetheless enchantment as a launchpad for development?

Furthermore, why is one thing so mundane as a bunch of firms opening new places of work remotely outstanding within the first place?

The good reset

The explanations for the widespread downsizing we’ve seen in latest occasions are manifold, however some widespread threads permeate lots of the organizations which are scaling again. The post-pandemic reset is one apparent issue, with among the firms that benefitted from the world’s retreat behind closed doorways succumbing when issues returned to regular. Peloton is an efficient instance of this, with the at-home health {hardware} big skyrocketing by the pandemic earlier than falling again to Earth with an almighty bump when folks ventured into the nice outside once more. Within the U.Okay., digital occasions platform Hopin serves as one other instance, rising from a seed-stage upstart on the pandemic’s outset to develop into a $6 billion juggernaut in simply twelve months — earlier than shedding an enormous chunk of its employees in pursuit of extra sustainable development.

As issues transpired, folks would possibly desire to community in-person versus digital breakout rooms.

Different contributing components embrace an over-reliance on enterprise capital funding for companies that had but to determine a sturdy enterprise mannequin, whereas the broader financial downturn has compelled firms to chop their prices and safeguard their remaining capital amidst a local weather of inflation and rising rates of interest.

However for each yin, there’s a yang. Some firms adversely impacted by the pandemic have bounced again, reminiscent of Airbnb which laid off a good portion of its international workforce to see it by the worst occasions, earlier than recovering after which hitting the general public markets to develop into a $67 billion enterprise.

However corrections and resurgences apart, there’s no denying the peril that many firms at present face. In response to startup sacking tracker Layoffs.fyi, there was greater than 150,000 layoffs up to now two years, spanning 1,000 startups. And this pattern is displaying little signal of easing.

So why are some firms thumbing their noses in any respect of this, and opening shiny new places of work as a substitute?

Monetary independence

Proton, the Swiss firm behind encrypted electronic mail service ProtonMail, already has hubs throughout its native Switzerland, Lithuania, North Macedonia, and Taiwan. Earlier this yr, Proton revealed it was gearing as much as open its first U.Okay. workplace to assist its present dozen or so staff within the nation and 40 open roles marketed for the U.Okay. capital.

The principle goal for the London hub was that it wanted someplace for its U.Okay.-based employees to name residence — regardless of a broader industrial embrace of distant or hybrid working, Proton is all in regards to the workplace.

“Proton does from time-to-time make distant hires, however as a normal rule we’re an office-centric — reasonably than remote-centric — firm, and most of our workforce works from our places of work all over the world,” Proton founder and CEO Andy Yen defined to TechCrunch.

Whereas being tethered to a centralized bodily workplace might or might not hinder Proton’s hiring possibilities in an more and more distant working world, the truth that it’s ready to broaden in any respect, as different startups flounder, is value exploring.

In comparison with many different startups and scaleups, Proton has taken on little or no enterprise capital (VC) funding in its nine-year historical past — other than a small $2 million seed funding spherical again in 2015 and a $500,000 fairness crowdfunder the earlier yr, Proton has managed to develop largely by folks paying cash for its service.

“The largest driver of our hiring is our monetary independence,” Yen mentioned. “Our concentrate on a subscription mannequin allowed us to monetize early, which ensured that we didn’t must depend on VC funding to scale, and gave us a dependable and rising income stream. This units us aside from different firms which have remained depending on annual funding rounds. Because of this, we’re insulated from the worldwide slow-down in VC funding and may proceed to rent in-line with our development.”

The character of Proton’s product has additionally been instrumental in making certain that it may be as self-sufficient as doable. Privateness-focused applied sciences stay in high-demand throughout the patron and enterprise spheres, and whereas Google’s unlikely to be knocked off its electronic mail and productiveness software program perch any time quickly, there are nonetheless sufficient folks on the market keen to pay hard-cash for a service that’s not funded by promoting or different data-harnessing practices.

“Our person base is at present rising at a fast price as a result of international demand for tech that respects privateness is on the rise,” Yen mentioned.

Proton lately claimed that it handed 70 million accounts, up from 2 million 5 years in the past, although the corporate doesn’t escape how a lot of these accounts are actively used, or what number of are paying subscribers. However nonetheless, these 70 million accounts characterize a captive viewers which have demonstrated a minimum of some curiosity in preserving their privateness. On high of that, Proton’s expertise pitch could be very a lot according to the European Union’s considering on privateness, which has been encapsulated by regulation reminiscent of GDPR. As such, Proton was capable of safe a €2 million grant from the EU in 2019, additional bolstering the corporate’s “monetary independence”.

However the place does London come into all of this, and why open a brand new workplace there? In response to Yen, it’s a mixture of things, together with the place it’s seeing demand for its service, and the out there expertise pool.

“From the start, the U.Okay. has at all times been one of many nations with the biggest Proton communities,” Yen mentioned. “Whereas Proton customers come from over 180 nations, the biggest phase has at all times come from the English-speaking world. After we have been seeking to open a brand new workplace, London was the pure selection — [it’s] residence to an unimaginable variety of proficient people, who we imagine will assist us scale the corporate and construct a greater web the place privateness is the default.”

Metropolis slickers

Recent off a $10 million sequence A funding spherical, SoftBank-backed German local weather tech startup Plan A lately revealed plans for its first U.Okay. workplace, scheduled to accommodate some 100 staff within the coming years. The five-year-old firm, which has present places of work in Berlin, Munich and Paris, gives automation expertise to assist firms account for his or her carbon emissions. Its upsizing plans are additionally in step with traits elsewhere within the local weather tech area, which has been on a perennial upwards trajectory.

In 2021, round $40 billion was invested throughout some 600 climate-focused startups, and regardless of sturdy headwinds elsewhere within the startup funding area, this pattern is seemingly persevering with into 2022. Local weather-focused firms are nonetheless a sexy proposition for traders, with numerous devoted funds persevering with to crop up, and far of that is to do with demand from inside business which is being pushed by exterior pressures reminiscent of laws.

Europe’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) got here into pressure simply final yr with a mission to reinforce transparency in sustainable investments. In impact, it’s to make finance firms extra accountable for claims they make round sustainability and stop greenwashing. Whereas Plan A targets all method of industries, the finance sector is a central focus, provided that local weather change and the worldwide financial system are intently intertwined.

“The monetary system is the spine of our financial system — by loans, investments, and the controlling of world money flows, it’s crucial automobile in terms of sustainably remodeling our financial system,” Plan A cofounder and CEO Lubomila Jordanova mentioned.

The choice to launch its new workplace in London in the end boiled right down to strategic practicalities. Regardless of Brexit, London remains to be a world monetary powerhouse, and is at present the one European metropolis within the high 10 of the World Monetary Facilities Index (GFCI), sitting behind New York in second place.

“From a enterprise perspective, we see nice potential on this location as London is each one of many world’s largest monetary and enterprise hubs and has a vibrant tech, service, and IT ecosystem — and U.Okay. companies face very market-specific regulatory necessities,” Jordanova continued.

Emergency (Br)exit

It will be considerably remiss to color the U.Okay. because the land of milk and honey although — there may be ample proof that companies looking for extra liquidity, or favorable circumstances for going public, usually desire to look elsewhere. And there may be the thorny Brexit elephant within the room to cope with, too.

Australian tech titan Atlassian lately confirmed that it was “exploring” the opportunity of redomiciling its principal dad or mum holding firm from the U.Okay. to the U.S. It’s value stressing that Atlassian has solely ever actually been a U.Okay.-domiciled firm on paper, although — its international headquarters has at all times been in its native Australia, and it has by no means had an workplace within the U.Okay., although staff are allowed to base themselves from the U.Okay. as a part of Atlassian’s distant work coverage.

So whereas Atlassian has by no means meaningfully existed within the U.Okay. because it formally moved there in 2014, its need to relocate to the U.S. factors to some drawbacks for firms within the U.Okay. Certainly, regardless of its U.Okay.-domiciled standing, Atlassian has been listed on the U.S. Nasdaq since 2015, and the corporate mentioned the rationale that it’s now seeking to transfer is to entry extra capital and a “broader set of traders” by shifting its company entity throughout the Atlantic. It mentioned earlier this yr:

We imagine transferring our dad or mum entity to the US will enhance our entry to a broader set of traders, assist our inclusion in further inventory indices, enhance monetary reporting comparability with our business friends, streamline our company construction, and supply extra flexibility in accessing capital.

Elsewhere, plainly the U.S. additionally stays a extra fascinating choice for tech firms contemplating going public, with SoftBank-owned U.Okay. chip big ARM reportedly favoring an IPO within the U.S, although the U.Okay. authorities is making an attempt to engineer a dual-listing that features the U.Okay. Nevertheless, SoftBank has made it clear that it will desire a U.S. itemizing.

“We expect that the Nasdaq inventory alternate within the U.S., which is on the centre of world hi-tech, can be best suited,” SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son mentioned earlier this yr.

After which there are the quite a few firms — massive and small — which have moved their official base away from the U.Okay. because of political occasions. A type of is Eigen Applied sciences, a seven-year-old AI startup backed by Goldman Sachs, which final yr transitioned its headquarters from London to New York, citing the U.Okay.’s exit from the EU bloc as a driving pressure behind the transfer. Practically three-quarters of the corporate’s enterprise was already stemming from North America, nonetheless, so Brexit might have been extra of a nudge in that path reasonably than a violent shove.

“Brexit has considerably undermined the advantages of the U.Okay. as a house marketplace for us, significantly in weakening the college ecosystem and the lack of a single unifying market with Europe,” Eigen’s cofounder and CEO Dr. Lewis Z. Liu mentioned in a press release on the time. “So, whereas I’m very unhappy to depart London, it’s time for me to return to New York [where Liu is from] and lead Eigen on to the following stage of its journey to ensure that it to fulfil its potential.”

However for a similar purpose that firms have opened places of work in London over the previous yr, Eiger has retained a powerful presence within the U.Okay. capital, and it nonetheless serves as residence for its technical management and command middle for the EMEA and APAC areas. Just like the Large Apple, Liu acknowledged that London stays a significant draw as in worldwide participant.

“We mirror the distinctive worldwide outlook of New York and London, the worldwide cities that Eigen is rooted in,” Liu mentioned.

Rent floor

Whether or not it’s privateness tech or inexperienced tech, startups with a concentrate on fixing actual issues could also be higher positioned to climate the present storm. However that doesn’t imply purely by way of attracting massive enterprise prospects or big-name VCs — it very a lot extends to the hiring realm too, with employees rising from the nice resignation on the lookout for extra that means and goal of their day-to-day working lives.

“I feel a whole lot of this can come right down to which firms are engaged on fixing massive, necessary technical or societal challenges,” Dan Hynes, associate at European VC juggernaut Atomico, mentioned. “That’s the place expertise desires to work today, and candidates will ask themselves ‘does this match into my private worth system? What’s its ESG (environmental, social and governance) technique,’?”

However by way of which firms are prone to show extra resilient throughout this downturn, there are lots of components at play, together with people who have secured sufficient capital to see them by this turbulence, and “which firms are being well-managed and disciplined,” Hynes mentioned.

“It additionally relies on what stage firms are at — people who have discovered go-to-market match will likely be very cautious, however they are going to be hiring to construct out the business arms of these groups, and people who have product-market-fit on the lookout for go-to-market match will likely be doubling down on hiring engineering, design and product expertise to get their product in the very best form as rapidly as doable,” Hynes defined.

With a lot of massive tech trimming their workforce or curbing their hiring, this might additionally assist startups with fewer monetary sources to entry expertise that will beforehand have been unaffordable to them. Or, the place different startups have needed to cut back, this serves to enrichen the broader expertise pool for different firms which are increasing.

“At a excessive degree, issues are nonetheless very constructive in expertise immediately — in-house recruiters will likely be going by the lists of expertise which have lately been laid-off in a short time, as recycling of expertise has at all times been a constructive a part of the tech business and continues to drive the European expertise ecosystem flywheel,” Hynes continued. “Europe has had deep swimming pools of expertise, throughout all enterprise capabilities, for a variety of years now with direct expertise of scaling in any respect ranges.”

Distant management

However whereas London would possibly nicely stay a compelling choice for companies seeking to broaden, location is perhaps much less of a precedence than it as soon as was. There’s greater than sufficient proof that employees aren’t eager to hurry again to the workplace and endure 3-hour round-trip every day commutes — however regardless of all that, folks nonetheless like having choices. American gross sales and advertising software program big HubSpot, a $14 billion publicly-traded firm, introduced its first U.Okay. workplace in London final September, alongside plans for 70 new jobs in England, Scotland, and Wales. The corporate already had round 1,500 staff throughout Europe, with hubs in Berlin, Dublin, Ghent, and Paris.

It’s value noting, although, that HubSpot’s new London workplace solely homes 20 folks, so it’s not anticipating everybody to relocate to the U.Okay. capital — the vast majority of its workforce within the nation would reasonably be distant.

“Based mostly on our survey of how staff wish to work in 2022, we all know that greater than two-thirds of our U.Okay. workforce is planning to work remotely long run, whereas the remainder desire to work from the workplace some or more often than not,” HubSpot’s VP of world recruiting Becky McCullough mentioned.

From a enterprise perspective, the U.Okay. has emerged as a significant point of interest for HubSpot too, and it’s now the corporate’s second greatest market globally (and largest in Europe), claiming greater than 10,000 paying prospects final yr.

“Whereas our Dublin workplace has supported our U.Okay. development through the years, we acknowledged that with elevated development, it was the proper time to extend our native presence to higher assist our prospects with extra face-to-face engagement,” McCullough added. “We [also] know that there’s a massively proficient pool of people within the U.Okay., and pairing the highest expertise with the thriving tech enterprise scene, London made probably the most sense for us to place down roots.”

On a associated observe, HubSpot lately revealed the outcomes of a survey it carried out with its 6,000 employees globally, discovering that 52% of its staff would favor to do business from home on a regular basis, whereas 36% would select a hybrid mannequin and simply 12% wish to be within the workplace completely.

This helps to focus on why a significant firm would possibly elect to broaden by smaller places of work — it’s a mirrored image of what employees need, and there are indicators that different massive firms are adopting an identical method.

San Francisco-based API and microservices platform Kong opened a brand new London workplace in Might. The corporate, which hit unicorn standing final yr off the again of a $100 million fundraise, needed a hub that was simpler to entry for its U.Okay. workforce, which constitutes greater than 10% of its international headcount of 450. Furthermore, 25% of its  present open positions are based mostly within the EMEA area — so having an workplace that’s accessible for short-term guests from the continent, and from inside the U.Okay. itself, was key.

“London is a simple hub to navigate to and inside,” Kong’s VP of EMEA Carl Mattson mentioned. “On the finish of the day — and within the new ‘remote-first’ world we dwell in — the workplace have to be straightforward to entry and centrally positioned. Naturally, our U.Okay.-based workforce will make the most of the area on a extra common foundation because of proximity, however the area can be out there as a collaboration area for these positioned elsewhere.”

Kong serves as one other good instance of how the workplace of the longer term is evolving in-line with the expansion of distant working — smaller places of work positioned strategically in areas close to to the place staff are based mostly, ought to they should use it.

“We’re starting to plan our workforce areas extra intentionally,” Mattson mentioned. “Whereas we’ll at all times be a remote-first firm, the pandemic has taught us that we want and worth the flexibility to collect, collaborate, join and have interaction in individual. Because of this, we anticipate further places of work the place we have now a excessive focus of staff.”

Kong’s new workplace at present has a capability for simply 20 folks, although its association permits it to scale up rapidly as its headcount within the area grows, and when in-person collaboration returns to regular.

“Kong is raring for extra in-person collaboration, particularly after such an extended time period working primarily in isolation as a result of international pandemic,” Mattson added.

Some six months after its debut on the Nasdaq final June, enterprise venture administration and workforce collaboration software program firm Monday.com launched its first U.Okay. workplace, serving because the Israeli firm’s official European HQ. Then in Might, Monday.com expanded into a brand new workplace positioned in Fitzrovia, revealing plans to develop its present 60 headcount to as a lot as 150 within the coming years.

As TechCrunch famous after Monday.com’s Q1 earnings this yr, its sturdy development figures have been an extra indication that SaaS stays sturdy in an surroundings of slowdowns and scalebacks, which positions companies reminiscent of Monday.com nicely. Furthermore, as Monday.com’s new London workplace suggests, hunkering down and hiding isn’t actually a long-term technique.

“Corporations struggling to seek out their footing throughout this time is perhaps transferring in direction of a ‘hibernation’ interval the place they abandon development and solely concentrate on sustaining,” Naveed Malik, Monday.com’s regional director for EMEA channel partnerships, defined. “Whereas this could typically be a viable technique, it might be much less sustainable now as we emerge from the peaks of the pandemic, the place many organizations have been already pulling again and making an attempt to re-stabilize.”

On condition that its product is all about connecting disparate groups, Monday.com is perhaps well-positioned to flourish in a world that has quickly transitioned to distant work. However as its new workplace signifies, the corporate itself hasn’t deserted real-world interactions — it desires folks within the workplace, a minimum of a part of the time.

“In the course of the pandemic, the whole, international group adopted a remote-first work mannequin,” Malik mentioned. “Immediately, because it turns into safer to open again up, we’ve transitioned again to an office-first method that encourages staff to embrace each in-person and distant work fashions relying on their wants. Whereas places of work stay open for everybody all through the week, particular person groups are ready to decide on which days they wish to collaborate in-person, and which days they’ll work remotely.”

Just like different firms which have lately arrived within the U.Okay. capital, Malik pointed to the “excellent expertise” as one purpose it selected London, although the brand new workplace can be strategically positioned near prospects.

“We’ve seen terrific traction on our platform within the space, and having the workforce headquartered there’ll assist our continued development,” Malik mentioned.

What all this exhibits is that the way forward for work shouldn’t be a inflexible, one-size-fits all mannequin — some firms need employees within the workplace greater than others, however for probably the most half, they might want to supply a level of flexibility in the event that they’re to draw one of the best expertise.

Future of labor

One other rising theme right here is how firms’ relationships with native communities and society normally are evolving, with distant and hybrid working enjoying a pivotal half.

World wide we’ve seen how excessive concentrations of firms can have destructive penalties for the world they inhabit. This consists of locations reminiscent of San Francisco and the broader Bay Space, the place the value of housing, pervasiveness of homelessness, and a rising wealth hole are signs of billion- and trillion-dollar firms permeating the area. There are some early indicators that issues are altering.

Just a few weeks again, esteemed Silicon Valley VC Andreessen Horowitz revealed it was “transferring to the cloud,” that means that it was shifting its middle of gravity away from the Bay Space in response to the world’s newfound love affair with distant working. It initially dedicated to a few new places of work in Miami, New York, and Santa Monica, along with its present hubs in San Francisco and Menlo Park. It’s additionally planning extra bodily places of work all over the world.

Whereas acknowledging the historic causes round why Silicon Valley and surrounding space emerged as a magnet for technical expertise, Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz cofounder and associate, famous that the pandemic modified every little thing — firms have been “compelled to determine easy methods to work remotely,” and whereas it might not be good, the advantages of decentralization maybe outweigh the bumps.

“Concentrating all of these firms into one or two geographies cuts off nice alternatives from anybody who can contribute, however can not simply transfer,” Horowitz wrote. “Distant work is opening up many new areas for entrepreneurs and expertise employees.”

A sluggish however regular variety of firms have both deserted the Bay Space or opened secondary headquarters and satellite tv for pc places of work. Fintech big Xero transitioned its Americas HQ to Denver in 2018 lengthy earlier than the pandemic, whereas Oracle and Tesla have since revealed comparable plans however with Texas because the vacation spot. Whereas there isn’t a love misplaced between Tesla and California, CEO Elon Musk attributed the HQ transfer to easy practicalities — Austin is extra accessible for employees.

“It’s robust for folks to afford homes and folks have to return in from far-off,” Musk mentioned of its Palo Alto HQ. “There’s a restrict to how massive you may scale it within the Bay Space. In Austin, our manufacturing facility is like 5 minutes from the airport, quarter-hour from Downtown.”

One of the crucial notable aspects of the tech business is that it’s at all times transferring and evolving, with cities competing for firms, employees, and inward funding. So what’s true immediately, might not be true tomorrow, that means that no metropolis can relaxation on its laurels, however they need to additionally handle the unintended penalties of their successes.

London, as with many different main international cities, has lengthy laid within the shadows of tech holylands reminiscent of Silicon Valley, nevertheless it has suffered comparable issues on a smaller scale. In 2017, the Shoreditch space of town, residence of the so-called Silicon Roundabout, acquired the doubtful honour of being named the world’s most costly expertise district by way of workplace actual property. And extra lately, information emerged that housing growth in west London could possibly be curtailed as a result of excessive focus of information facilities in close by Slough — information facilities require a whole lot of electrical energy, and the grid is outwardly approaching capability.

This demonstrates the inextricable hyperlink between firms, infrastructure, and the surroundings they inhabit. “Tech scenes” and excessive concentrations of particular sorts of firms have their advantages, however there are downsides. And that could possibly be one constructive consequence of the pandemic — main cities reminiscent of London will at all times be in demand, however location in 2022 shouldn’t be as necessary because it was three years in the past, which can result in a extra balanced expertise ecosystem.

“London continues to be in sturdy place by way of expertise and entry to capital, however the world has modified considerably since Covid,” Atomico’s Hynes mentioned. “The vast majority of firms immediately, particularly on the early-stage, are both remote-first or positively hybrid, and you will note that proceed as tech will at all times be a talent-driven market. [But] London will proceed to be an necessary a part of the tech ecosystem in Europe — it has extra engineers than wherever else in Europe, however I feel the best way of working has actually modified once more by way of distant and hybrid, and I can’t see folks wanting to return to pre-Covid full-time workplace hours.”