Кембридж аймағының технологиялық өрісі

Name given to an area around Cambridge

Silicon Fen or the Cambridge Cluster is the name given to the region around Cambridge, England, which is home to a large number of high tech businesses focused on software, electronics, and biotechnology, including Arm and AstraZeneca. The name Silicon Fen originated as an analogy with Silicon Valley in California because it lies at the southern tip of the English Fenland. The local growth in technology companies started with Sinclair Research and Acorn Computers.

More than 1000 high technology companies established offices in the area during the five years preceding 1998. Some early successful businesses were Advanced RISC Machines and Cambridge Display Technology. Cambridge Ahead, the business and academic membership organisation dedicated to the long term growth of the city and its region, reported in 2015–16, that growth of Cambridge companies was approximately 7% over one, three, and five year durations. Global turnover of Cambridge companies increased by 7.6% to £35.7bn, up from £33bn the previous year, and global employment grew by 7.6% to 210,292. The number of companies headquartered within 20 miles of Cambridge grew from 22,017 to 24,580.

The Cambridge Network is an organization facilitating networking in the area. Other possible factors include a high standard of living available in the county, and good transport links, for example to London and with Cambridge Airport having a full service business jet centre. Many graduates from the university choose to stay on in the area, giving local companies a rich pool of talent to draw upon. The high technology industry has little by way of competition, unlike say in Oxfordshire where many other competing industries exist. Cambridgeshire has only recently become a high technology centre, which has meant that commercial rents were generally lower than in other parts of the UK and thus giving companies a head start on those situated in other more expensive regions. However, the recent technology boom has changed the situation and Cambridgeshire now ranks as one of the highest costs of living in the UK outside London, which is home to an even bigger technology centre.