Investment in the software and IT sector in London, UK, has increased significantly during the first six months of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010, according to fDi Markets. From January to June 2010, $530m was invested, increasing to $3985m in 2011, more than seven times the 2010 figure. In addition, the number of projects announced for the capital has more than doubled, from 30 in 2010 to 65 in 2011.

To date in 2011, Google, Intel and Cisco have announced plans to invest in London. In November 2010, the UK government announced the establishment of the East London Tech City, with the goal of transforming the region into the UK equivalent of Silicon Valley. So far, a number of companies have pledged their support to this initiative.

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Other European capitals have fared less well, with little or negligible growth. Paris had 17 investment projects during the first six months of 2011 and an investment amount of £70.2m compared with $123.4m for the same period in 2010, according to fDi Markets.

In addition, fDi Markets recorded only five projects into Berlin with a total investment of $22.3m, with Google investing in research and development and eBay establishing a headquarters there. This figure was up on the same period in 2010 when two projects were recorded with an investment total of $5m.

In Madrid, while the number of projects recorded on the fDi Markets database during the January to June period in 2011 was higher than the figure recorded in 2010, the capital expenditure during the same period in 2010 was $12.7m greater.

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