[logingone]

I've long considered London to be nothing more than a giant PR exercise. Of course the prime minister is an ex-PR guy, so a connection wouldn't be surprising. I'm not sure it delivers on the image it projects in any respect. Except the new trains that have started on some lines - nice to have room to breathe when you're stuck on a track waiting for a signal failure. Even the new double decker busses with the aero fronts. What's the real difference? Nothing. In fact the new appearance doesn't even last beyond the front of the bus which is what people see when it approaches - the rear of the busses is unchanged. So we don't have impressive new busses, we have busses that look, upon first glance, from a specific angle, as though they are. Everything is careful illusion. People buy into perception. Look! We have silicon roundabout! Seriously?

[martiuk]

The problem is that even if it is a giant PR exercise, it's still sucking talent away from the Midlands and the North.

There's a somewhat large group of startups here in Birmingham and there is a significant lack of talent (unless you want cookie cutter Microsoft technology developers) and investors. I started my own company to work on a project and I'm contracting at the moment to keep myself going and I still get asked if I want to join someone's startup as their first software engineer.