MADE IN LONDON

London enjoys a long manufacturing and engineering tradition. In 2012, many Londoners continued to design, engineer and manufacture a variety of goods.

The image of London as a city always dominated by banking and finance is a 21st Century myth. True, some industries vanished long ago, like shipbuilding. Manufacturing in London declined vastly since the 1960s. Thousands of jobs were lost. 

But manufacturing and engineering remained vital to working Londoners. And, as the economy stagnated in 2012, the question was raised; could a re-caste new swathe of manufacturing industries create jobs and re-balance London’s future economy?

Re-balancing London’s economy

Politicians had ignored calls during the previous twenty years to re-balance London’s economy back towards manufacturing and engineering and to rely less on banking and finance.

Worse still, the idea spread that banking and finance would drive London forward as the UK hub of a vibrant ‘post-industrial’ knowledge economy.

In reality, boardroom decisions rather than irresistible, natural market forces led to workers being made redundant and manufacturers closing. Bankers detached themselves from London’s real economy and society, paving the way for the economic catastrophe of 2008. 

‘Silicon City’

Millions of Londoners in 2012 increasingly relied on the Internet, mobile phones and complex software for work and play. But most of these technologies were developed overseas. 

Computer software and gaming companies clustered around ‘Silicon Roundabout’ – a tag given to London’s Old Street-Shoreditch area that later gave way to ‘Tech City’ after companies like Google invested locally.