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Silicon Fen or the Cambridge Cluster is a collective name given to high tech businesses focused on software, electronics, and biotechnology, including Arm and AstraZeneca, in and around the city of Cambridge in England.
The name Silicon Fen originated as an analogy with Silicon Valley in California because Cambridge lies at the southern tip of the Fens. The local growth in technology companies started with Sinclair Research and Acorn Computers.
Business growth
More than 1,000 high-technology companies established offices in the area during the five years preceding 1998. Some early successful businesses were Advanced RISC Machines and Cambridge Display Technology. In 2004, 24% of all UK venture capital, representing 8% of all venture capital in the European Union, was received by Silicon Fen companies, according to the Cambridge Cluster Report 2004 produced by Library House and Grant Thornton.
The so-called Cambridge phenomenon, which gave rise to start-up companies in a town that previously had only light industry in the electrical sector, is usually dated to the founding of the Cambridge Science Park in 1970 as an initiative of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge.
The characteristic of Cambridge is small companies in sectors such as computer-aided design. They are spread over an area defined by the CB postcode or 01223 telephone area code, or more generously in an area bounded by Ely, Newmarket, Saffron Walden, Royston, and Huntingdon.
In 2000, then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown set up a research partnership between MIT and Cambridge University, the Cambridge–MIT Institute, in order to increase international collaboration between the two universities and strengthen the economic success of Silicon Fen.
In February 2006, Cambridge Judge Business School reported estimates that there were approximately 250 active start-ups directly linked to the university, valued at roughly US$6 billion. Several of these companies have grown into multinationals, including Arm, Autonomy Corporation, AVEVA, and Cambridge Silicon Radio.
In 2012, it was reported that strong employment growth in the Silicon Fen hub was hampered due to its significant concentration on research and development, which was limiting competition in manufacturing and costs.
Cambridge Ahead, the business and academic membership organisation dedicated to the long-term growth of the city and its region, reported in 2015–16, that growth of Cambridge companies was approximately 7% over one, three, and five-year durations. Global turnover of Cambridge companies increased by 7.6% to £35.7bn, up from £33bn the previous year, and global employment grew by 7.6% to 210,292. The number of companies headquartered within 20 miles of Cambridge grew from 22,017 to 24,580.
Area characteristics
The Cambridge Network is an organization facilitating networking in the area.
Other possible factors include a high standard of living available in the county, and good transport links, for example to London and with Cambridge Airport having a full service business jet centre. Many graduates from the university choose to stay on in the area, giving local companies a rich pool of talent to draw upon. The high-technology industry has little by way of competition, unlike say in Oxfordshire where many other competing industries exist. Cambridgeshire has only recently become a high-technology centre, which has meant that commercial rents were generally lower than in other parts of the UK and thus giving companies a head-start on those situated in other more expensive regions. However, the recent technology boom has changed the situation and Cambridgeshire now ranks as one of the highest costs of living in the UK outside London, which is home to an even bigger technology centre.
People and companies associated with Silicon Fen
People
Companies
- Abcam
- Acorn Computers
- Adder Technology
- Aixtron
- Arm
- Aveva
- Broadcom Inc.
- Cambridge Broadband
- Cambridge Consultants
- Cambridge Interactive Systems Ltd
- Cambridge Network
- Cambridge Wireless
- Cambridge Semiconductor Limited
- Camcon Technology
- Cantab Capital Partners
- CSR plc
- DANTE
- Darktrace
- DisplayLink
- Docker, Inc.
- Endomag
- Global Silicon
- ip.access
- Jagex
- PA Consulting Group
- Raspberry Pi Foundation
- RealVNC
- RISC OS Open
- Sartorius Stedim TAP, formerly part of Sartorius AG
- Sinclair Research
- Sagentia, formerly Scientific Generics
- ST Robotics
- Team Consulting
See also
- Silicon Valley
- List of places with 'Silicon' names
- List of city nicknames in the United Kingdom
- Oxford-Cambridge Arc
References
- The Cambridge Cluster Report 2007, Library House 2007, Download
- The Cambridge Phenomenon: The Growth of High Technology Industry in a University Town, Segal Quince & Partners 1985, ISBN 0-9510202-0-X
- Worthington, Tom (1999). "The Cambridge Phenomenon: Summary of The Report". Net traveller: exploring the networked nation. Australian Computer Society. ISBN 0-909925-74-7.
- The Cambridge Phenomenon Revisited – a synopsis of the new report by Segal Quince Wicksteed, Segal Quince & Partners 2000, Download Archived 26 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- The Cambridge Cluster Report 2003, Library House 2003, Download
- The Cambridge Cluster Report 2004, Library House in association with Grant Thornton 2004, Download
- The Cambridge Cluster Report 2006, Library House 2006, Download
- The Cambridge Technopole Report 2006 An overview of the UK's leading high tech cluster, St John's Innovation Centre 2006,
- The Impact of the University of Cambridge on the UK Economy and Society A high-level study commissioned by EEDA and the Cambridge Network in 2006,
- INSIGHTS & RESEARCH | WHAT IS SILICON FEN? bidwells.co.uk,
- ^ Jones, Kevin (1 December 1998). "US Report: Old Cambridge targets high-tech success". ZDNet. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
The focus on technology in the so-called Silicon Fen started two decades ago with Acorn Computer PLC, which became the U.K.'s leading personal computer maker until the advent of Windows. The Fen also spawned a couple of successes, such as Advanced RISC Machines Ltd., a virtual chip designer; Cambridge Display Technologies Ltd., a monitor maker
- Ibrahim, Youseff M. (4 January 1998). "In Old England a Silicon Fen: Cambridge as a High-Tech Outpost". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
- Andersen, Christian; Bailey, Jonathan; Heal, Adam; Munn, Oliver; O'Connell, Bryan (4 May 2012). "IT Hardware cluster: Cambridge, United Kingdom" (PDF). Final Paper; Microeconomics of Competitiveness, Harvard Business School. Harvard Business School. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
- "Latest data from Cambridge Ahead reveals unabated growth of Cambridge companies". cambridgeahead.co.uk. Cambridge Ahead. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
- "5 Reasons Cambridge is Great for Students". Top Universities. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- "Cambridge". Cost Off Living. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- Ranger, Steve (15 January 2014). "First came the artists, then came the hackers: The strange history of London's own Silicon Valley". TechRepublic. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
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