London, and the UK in general, suffered a stinging blow as tech company Atlassian is moving its headquarters to Delaware, USA.
London has been working to establish itself as a tech hub and attract top companies. Despite its efforts, according to TechCrunch Atlassian began looking at a move to the US to make it easier to access investors, ultimately deciding to take the plunge.
The UK has grown increasingly concerned about its reliance on other countries for tech and has taken steps to secure its tech independence. As one example, the government was concerned about Nvidia’s attempt to purchase Arm and the implication of having the UK’s most successful chip maker under US control.
The UK is stepping up its efforts to bring in tech companies, with former Chancellor Rishi Sunak telling London Tech Week: “If you’re an entrepreneur looking for funding – I want you to look at the UK and say: that’s where I want to be.”
Unfortunately for London and the UK, it looks like there’s still work to do if the powers that be want to retain, let alone attract, tech companies.