Central Working CEO James Layfield has been named as a London Tech Ambassador and in his first official appointment has joined the Mayor of London’s three-day trade mission to Israel.
Boris Johnson is officially opening the day’s trading at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange before heading to the city’s Google Campus where 16 UK firms from the edtech and urban solutions sectors will try to build links with Israel’s technology leaders.
As well as the Mayor using his trip to urge Israeli startups to come to London, Layfield is on the lookout for 20 firms to bring to the UK as new members of his network of coworking spaces.
Research commissioned by the IVC Research Center ahead of the trip found that there are already 141 Israeli tech firms with offices in London, of 239 that have registered UK premises.
After the UK, Israel is the top country for listings on the London Stock Exchange, with 76% of those listing during the past five years having a tech focus, and where they have collectively raised more than £240m during this time.
There are currently 16 Israeli tech firms listed on the LSE, which have a combined market value of £3.7bn.
James Layfield, CEO Central Working, said: “I’ve been a proud advocate for London’s thriving tech scene for many years and in my opinion London will be the global city of choice for tech innovation within the next five years.
“Our digital entrepreneurs are already competing fiercely with those from New York and Silicon Valley and I’m delighted that as a tech ambassador for London I can help spread the message as to why London is the technology capital of the world.
“Israel is packed full of exciting entrepreneurs and business ideas, and its fitting that Tel Aviv is the first place I visit with the Mayor as a tech ambassador.
“Strong community lies at the heart of Israeli culture and Central Working’s strength is in our nurturing community, so I’m thrilled to welcome these fantastic Israeli tech start-ups into the network and have the opportunity to help them expand and thrive in a new market.”
Layfield joins Unruly’s Sarah Wood, Tech London Advocates’ Russ Shaw, Tech City UK’s Gerard Grech and Decoded’s Kathryn Parsons as a London Tech Ambassador.