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USA West Coast

The Silicon Valley of Europe

Each year, West Coast companies are increasingly moving or expanding their operations to the Thames Valley.

Within close-proximity of London – but without the cost, and west of Heathrow Airport, which has 22 daily direct flights to the West Coast, informed investors are drawn to the UK’s ‘Silicon Valley of Europe’ as their preferred destination of choice.

Scale of Investment

Cultivating and maintaining relationships are important especially as the Thames Valley and Silicon Valley are two of the world’s leading places to start and scale a business, with early-stage finance and business advice readily available. The two regions have strong synergies across several sectors, including technology, life sciences, real estate, retail and creative media.

In this interview with Joanne Vengadesan, Partner at Penningtons Manches Cooper, discover what the Thames Valley has to offer foreign-owned companies, particularly those from the West Coast.

Success is reflected in the numbers:

Investment from Silicon Valley into British businesses has reached £1 billion for the first time.

Number of deals has increased by 252% since 2011.

Over fifty West Coast companies have recently moved, or expanded their operations within, the Thames Valley.

Specific West Coast companies locating and growing in the Thames Valley

Amgen, headquartered in California, has a site situated in Abingdon, approximately 15 minutes away from the historic city of Oxford.

Microsoft chose to locate its world-famous campus at Thames Valley Park (TVP) in Reading, making that location its UK headquarters.

Oracle are also based at TVP and chose the location as its headquarters ahead of its seven other UK offices.

San Jose, in the centre of Silicon Valley, is home to major businesses including Cisco, Cadence Design Systems and Adobe, who also chose to situate offices in the heart of the UK’s Silicon Valley. Other West Coast organisations that call the region home include DataSift; Equinix; Intel; GROW.com; McAfee; NVIDIA; Symantec; Synopsys and Workday.

Penningtons Manches Cooper and the Golden Triangle: Golden Opportunities?

Britain’s Golden Triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge – of which the Thames Valley is at the heart – is a powerhouse of ingenuity and innovation. It is therefore not surprising to see investors in Silicon Valley, and across the West Coast, pay close attention to the entrepreneurial activity on this side of the pond, particularly in the technology sector. Find out more in the report ‘Golden Triangle: Golden Opportunities?’.

Penningtons Manches Cooper is part of the region’s soft-landing team, with offices located on New Montgomery in San Francisco offering immediate access to specialist UK lawyers. The company can advise on the best ways to approach the European market. The frequently updated ‘View from the Bridge’ UK-US business update is available here.

Well-connected with the West Coast, the soft-landing team frequently acts on behalf of a diverse range of individuals and globally-ambitious businesses looking to expand their activity outside the US into the UK. The team has close ties with the UK Government representative office and US investment community based locally to act as the link between the US and the Thames Valley.