UK Lagging in Tech
I was reading the blog of Christopher Hamilton, via zen habits, and came across a post about the lack of major UK tech businesses. Noting last.fm (which is really the only one I can think of that is doing something big), it’s got me wondering why we don’t have anything that really stands out. As I said in my comment, there’s plenty of interest, with web development, pc repair/custom building and such all over the place, so why are none of them doing anything cool?
As I type this up, I am digging about to see what I can think of. Let’s see what I find:
- last.fm - As I said, these guys spring to mind immediately when I think of UK Tech. I love last.fm and have found so much music through it, putting a hole in my wallet but who cares, music!!! Located in London, they provide a great service for everyone in the world.
- Lionhead Studios - With Fable, Black & White and The Movies tied to their name, they are pretty big and located in the UK. Plus, their games are certainly innovative, so a point to the UK!
- Rare - Founded in the UK, 1982, Rare (Rareware) has a huge catalogue of video games. They have brought us games like Banjo-Kazooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark and of course, Battletoads.
- Rockstar North - Originally DMA Design Limited, from Scotland, they were bought by Take Two as part of Rockstar Games. It’s still worth a mention though, they brought us Lemmings and GTA! It’s a bit of a stretch, since they were acquired several times, but I thought I would put them here anyway.
- BBC - I am going to mention the BBC not for the media they provide, but because of how they excel in web accessibility. Web designers and developers should strive to make sites accessible to as many people as they can, if not everyone. The BBC go in-depth on their site about how to make things more accessible by providing guides and tools for users.
So I managed to pull together a handful, which is sad considering I can link to several major businesses from the US, in this sentence, without even thinking.
If anyone has any other suggestions let me know. But really, come on UK :(!
Mike,
Thanks for the comment.
It’s not easy to find UK companies is it. My buddy Lance and I have spent a bit of time looking into it, and are starting a new project specifically orientated to the UK Tech scene, which will hopefully make some of the companies we’ve found a little more visible.
Initially we did the same thing as you, we thought of about ten companies in a heartbeat and almost all of them were US based.
If your interested in knowing a little more about the project. Drop me an email and I’ll let you know when the new site goes fully live.
[...] More Sources: last.fm forums, Mashable!, TechCrunch I love last.fm, as stated in my previous post, and I really, really hope that this is a good deal. As I said over in the GamingW forum topic, I [...]