Twitter Considers ‘Silicon Roundabout’ For Euro HQ

Twitter executives are scouting locations for the site of a new European headquarters, and British Prime Minister David Cameron is pushing the case for London’s ‘Silicon Roundabout’ to be selected.

The new office will be Twitter’s first base outside the United States, and will be headed up by Katie Jacobs Stanton, the company’s head of international strategy.

A spokesman for Twitter told The Sunday Telegraph: “There were a few of us in London this week. We are considering London and other European locations to create an initial and small presence in 2011.”

East End Tech City

Representatives of the company have been viewing properties in the West End and Shoreditch but are reportedly ‘under pressure’ to select a building near to Old Street roundabout, where Cameron plans to establish a ‘Tech City’ to rival California’s Silicon Valley.

According to the Telegraph, the new site will primarily be used as a sales office, as Twitter embarks on selling ads on a country-by-country basis.

The British government has pledged to invest £400 million in the East End Tech City, which is currently home to mostly small and medium-sized IT firms. Intel, Google and Facebook have all committed to opening research labs or innovation centres in the area, and BT and Cisco have also been mentioned in connection with the project.

“Our ambition is to bring together the creativity and energy of Shoreditch and the incredible possibilities of the Olympic Park to help make East London one of the world’s great technology centres,” said Cameron back in November.

Meanwhile, Cameron is also hoping to make greater use of IT within government, launching a new transparency website last month, aimed at give UK citizens greater insight into the month-by-month workings of government.

The website brings together in one place details of ministers’ meetings and public affairs, timetables for implementing policies, staffing structures and salary ranges for top civil servants.