Dublin Ranks Number 19th as Top Tech City
Savills World Research, a global property agent, has been ranking the world’s top tech cities based on a bunch of criteria for years ranging from the volume of inward venture capital investment through to the cost of a flat white coffee, to establish which cities are the most successful homes for tech and start-up companies. These metrics are grouped into six categories: business environment, tech environment, city buzz & wellness, talent pool, real estate costs, and mobility. Each category is weighted to reflect its importance to the tech sector.
In this year’s rankings, Dublin ranks 19th in the world’s top tech city with New York taking pole position as the as the premier Tech City in this year’s index, overtaking San Francisco.
Figure 1 | The Tech Cities global rankings
Source: Savills World Research
Access to a deep talent pool and the city’s reputation as a global centre of commerce made New York the global leader. Home to several world-renowned universities, a business-focused culture and global links, New York stands out with its ability to attract world-class talent as a key determinator. VC investment volumes have topped those of San Francisco for the last three years.
Despite concerns about the UK’s impending exit from the European Union next month and what it will mean for the UK economy, London ranked third. Performing especially well on ‘buzz and wellness’ and mobility sub-metrics with its impressive transport links, the UK capital remains the dominant tech hub in Europe, with three times more VC investment recorded in 2018 than the nearest European rival for VC investment, Paris. Of course, Brexit may hamper this ranking in the coming years, it will be interesting to see if London manages to retain this place.
Dublin – Competing with the best
Dublin is competing with the best cities in the world and has the benefit of a mass transit system that, even with all of its well documented problems, has an additional 16 million public transport journeys in 2018. Dublin offers a young, diverse, tech-savvy and talented workforce and a host of big names including Facebook, Apple and Airbnb. A business-friendly, low tax environment may have drawn big players to the city, but it is the city’s vibrant social scene that cemented its position as a major global tech player. In terms of its tech environment, Dublin ranked 15th for volumes of venture capital investment. That said, Dublin still faces some challenges with labor and real estate costs that have skyrocketed in the last decade.
Dublin in Numbers
City population: 528,000
City GDP per capita: $65,353
Established tech firm office rent per week per sq ft: $67
Prime residential rent per week: $862
Cost of a Flat White: $3.07
Startups per 1,000 people: 1.1
Average commute by employees working in key tech districts: 26 minutes
Cost of a single journey on local transport: $2.98
Annual passengers across the city’s airports: 25 million
Dublin a top location post Brexit
A recent survey conducted by EY of firms looking to leave the UK as a result of Brexit found Dublin is the most popular choice for relocation, with 21 firms out of 59 across financial services sectors having committed to relocating staff or operations here. Ireland is well placed to pick up further investment depending on the final deal agreed between the EU and Britain. This means that this could be the beginning of a significant new chapter for Dublin’s financial sector.
While the relocation announcements by the big financial firms are grabbing the headlines, we feel it is the tech industry that holds the greatest potential for a post-Brexit investment. A recent report by Knight Frank finds Dublin’s fast-growing ‘Silicon Docks’ area is best placed to benefit from Brexit.
At Lincoln we work with many companies looking to set up operations in Dublin and across Ireland and seek out the talent they need to hit the ground running. We certainly hope to increase that number in the coming years. If you would like more information on this or any of our talent services for companies looking to relocate, please get in touch with any member of our advisory team.
