back to article London 'Tech City' quango burns through £1m on admin

The taxpayer-funded quango given the job of rebranding and promoting the nontrepreneurs of Shoreditch has blown through £1m on admin costs alone in a year. 'Tech City' is the brainchild of No.10 special advisor Rohan Silva. It's also the name of the eponymous unit within UKTI, a taxpayer-funded quango, that's been set up to …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shut them down...

    ... Petition on eGov anyone?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Bloody good idea

      It would be such sweet irony to close down the governments web boondoggles through the medium of the eGov petitions website.

      Web 2.0 will eat itself

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It was probably all spent on

    Hairdressers

  3. John Styles

    Part of the digital movement

    Ooh, 'digital movement', I like that.

    I will use it as my slogan for my Twitter enabled toilets.

    'Have a digital movement with Blog My Log'.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I agree

      My thought was, that as a software developer, the foul smelling turd I dispatched this morning must be a (part of the) digital movement as well.

      When do I get my money?

    2. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

      'Have a digital movement with Blog My Log'.

      Please wipe after dumping core, thank you (that's for the Unix users).

  4. This post has been deleted by its author

  5. Oor Nonny-Muss
    Happy

    Now I know...

    Where my mother's old curtains went. That bloke talking to Prince Andrew seems to have rescued them from the tip and had a jacket (of sorts) made from them.

  6. Jon Press

    Most of that £1m...

    ... is probably the cost of protection for getting through the subway alive.

    1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

      Subway?

      Do you really think he knows what "subway" even is?

      Executive class limo service for that gentleman, all the way, please.

  7. Version 1.0 Silver badge
    Happy

    Sack the bastards

    It's public money - there should be public accountability - especially over wages paid. If all quango expenses were public then I'd bet that they'd be a lot less enthusiasm for jumping on the gravy train. I say sack the whole lot of them ... if they're as smart and useful as they claim to be then they'll have no problems finding a new job will they?

    Personally I'm all in favor of consigning them to the same fate as the marketing department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

  8. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

    Wafflers Squared ..... Spin Quack Doctors v2.0

    Some background info to help explain the shenanigans ....... http://powerbase.info/index.php/Rohan_Silva

  9. mark 63 Silver badge

    Gosh , I was going to start my own business too , but now that I know it costs a million in admin alone I'll have to give it a miss.

    ....Unless the govt are going to give me the money

  10. mark 63 Silver badge
    FAIL

    Either my browsers broke or that Tech City website is absolutely hideous!

    1. Return To Sender

      Optional? What kind of title is that?

      Not the *worst* I've seen, but you're right, it ain't that pretty. And unaccountably, the 'What people say' link doesn't seem to include any quotes from El Reg. Obviously they've been at too many piss-ups to get around to it :)

  11. Arrrggghh-otron

    Can we have one of these near me please? I could do with some money for old rope... I mean investment in high-tech multi-core filament...

  12. Voland's right hand Silver badge
    Devil

    My eyes

    Andrew, you owe me an eyetest.

    That suit...

    it is still in front of my eyes... I understand that dressing in one of Elton John outfits from his Muppet show episode is one way look kewl for publicity purposes... I also understand that bad taste is not a criminal offense...

    Does the FOI have a price tag for this ultimate pret-a-portet gem?

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Crikey!

    Looks like Nathan hasn't aged too well!

  14. chris lively
    FAIL

    Seriously?

    If you want companies to be in your city/country/geographic region then it's really simple.

    Make the business environment conducive to making money.

    I'm a small business owner and I couldn't care less whether the location my office is at has social meetups or not. And to be clear, yes we are a high tech company.

    What I care about is the bottom line. What are my operational expenses ( taxes anyone?) and how easy is it to get the talent I want. I certainly don't need to waste time "socializing" with random folks. I don't have any to spare.

    So, Britain, here's an idea: lower your tax rates on startups. Make it easier to get started ( licenses, etc ). And generally just stay out of my way.

  15. Mark Berry

    Look on the bright side.....

    It's keeping them off the streets.

  16. Notas Badoff
    FAIL

    Europeans need not apply

    If it bills itself as "The Digital Capital of Europe" and "Number-one European Location for IT and the creative industries" ...

    why is the only non-English language link for Chinese?

    That's mind-boggling _and_ 令人难以置信 !

  17. John_Corey
    Thumb Up

    Milo Yiannopolous

    Way to go Milo. Keep up the good work.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Trollface

    Where's...

    ... Martha Lane Fox when you need her?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Different budget

      She scams her money from a different budget probably, so wouldn't be seen dead with this lot.

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