The Value of Being Part of the Folkestone Digital Hub

The Quarterhouse in Folkestone's
Creative Quarter

Call it what you like; a scene, a cluster or a hub but luckily for us Folkestone has a small but steadily emerging cluster of digital and creative businesses. But just how can you measure the value of being part of such a scene?


London already has it's famous Tech City hub centred around Old Street tube station and the benefits of being located there are clear for many businesses, especially start ups. This blog post by Bertie Stephens of start up Flubit.com spells out how his business has attracted talented staff and established credibility just by being in Tech City.

In a slightly different sector is the well established Borough Market near London Bridge; although the market

The thriving side streets
around London's Borough Market

itself is focused on food you can see the benefit of providing opportunities for new and emerging businesses to test their produce on stalls but also in the emergence of related pubs, cafe's and food shops in the side streets surrounding the market.

Then there are the networking opportunities. Just locally we share a building with branding experts Pebble Shores, web developers Created and up the road is a paid search agency Sleeping Giant Media, plus the assorted freelancers and professionals floating around. The scene looks set to get even more of a boost when local entrepeneur Josh De Haan opens his new digital hub and workspace opposite our offices.

But building this cluster doesn't happen overnight. Yes it's had great support from the Creative Foundation and local MP Damian Collins but ultimately its down to us, the businesspeople and entrepreneurs who work in the space to really push things forward and take pride in what we are creating. As Alistair Upton of the Creative Foundation wrote recently "the people who set up these ventures and those who continue to run all the Folkestone businesses, both new and old, are what drives the town on and make it a great place to live."