Sheffield needs a London embassy

TL;DR Sheffield should have an embassy in London, not to represent the North, but to give Northern founders access to the networks, ambition, and energy of London.

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I now visit London every week. Whilst I’d like not to spend at least half a day a week on trains, these trips are necessary to get the mentorship, peer group, and ambition we need.

I’ve previously mused that the best business support SYMCA could provide is free train tickets to London and flights to the US (return trips only, of course). Because Sheffield is a developing startup ecosystem, with few mentors who’ve previously raised 10s or 100s of millions of pounds, startup founders should be regularly travelling out of the city for mentorship.

On top of this, both London and the US have a level of energy and ambition that is hard to attain in a Sheffield peer group. If you become the average of your five closest peers, then it’s essential to have a peer group that raises your ambition, and I find that in London.

There should be a Sheffield embassy in Kings Cross, a landing pad for Northern founders to build their London networks from.

The historic case

London is the most vibrant business city in the country; it’s the home of British politics, finance, and startups. There is, of course, excellence outside of London, but people outside of London should use London as somewhere they can benefit from rather than begrudge.

There is a rich history of people travelling into London to top up their ideas, network, and energy:

• Isaac Newton travelled from Cambridge to meetings at the Royal Society.

• Matthew Boulton spent time in London lobbying the government to establish assay offices in Birmingham and Sheffield, and to extend Watt’s steam engine patent.

• Charles Darwin lived in quiet Kent but travelled to London for the scientific societies.

• The London Season was the formalised system for nobility and landed gentry to travel to London to socialise and engage in politics.

It is not giving up on the North to visit the capital regularly; it’s a pragmatic acceptance of the advantages that the city has.

What is (and is not) needed?

• The embassy itself need not be the place where networking happens. The best networks are likely to be existing ones. The embassy should have:

• Office space to make travel less unproductive.

• Meeting space for hosting meetings in the capital.

• An occasional event space.

• We don’t need a Northerners in London club - we’re not homesick expatriates. The goal of any landing pad should be to access and integrate into London networks.

• A Sheffield embassy should not be staffed by Sheffield Business Advisors. It should have Sheffield’s most ambitious founders and a few trusted (and proven) ex-founders.

These points are a reflection of what helped us build a network in the city. Early in the life of Amodo, we received a Royal Academy of Engineering “Regional Talent Engine” grant. The most helpful part of this grant was lifelong access to the RAEng building on the Mall.

This gave me:

1. An excuse to visit London, including one event where I met the ARIA team.

2. A space to host meetings from, which was used to host meetings with mentors and potential American clients.

3. A desk to work from when in the capital, which helped reduce the productivity burden of travelling.

This is exactly what the Sheffield embassy must do: create a trend of the “London day” for the Sheffield founder, lower the burden of travel, and support meetings in the city.

Our network came from spending time with UK Day One (now the Centre for British Progress), Convergent Research, and RAND. This was a combination of making our own networks and gaining a few trusted advisors and friends.

The biggest challenge will be successfully connecting to London’s top networks. By default, a SYMCA-run project would connect to mid VCs and founder communities. Whoever runs the Sheffield embassy should cultivate a small network of supporters (e.g. key players at EF, Renaissance Philanthropy, and ARIA).

On top of this, founders should build their own networks. The embassy should be a launch pad to help them, an occasional connector, but primarily a working base for founders in the city.

What might success look like?

• The natural first port of call for fundraising becomes London, not Northern VCs.

• If asked, Sheffield founders name some London founders as their peers, not just other Sheffield businesses.

• Northern founders feel like they are a part of London networks; they benefit from what the city has to offer rather than begrudging what London has, and Sheffield doesn’t.

• Sheffield’s ambition rises, and we start judging success by how we do against London and SF startups, not just Northern companies.

Appendix

Why Kings Cross?

#1 The Sheffield train pulls into St Pancras. I used to say our office was a 100m walk from The Crick; 50m onto the train in Sheffield, and 50m off at the other end.

#2 Kings Cross is quickly becoming a global startup hub, leading on AI startups, and S&T talent. (GDM, ARIA, Orbital, CUSP, Google, new SDLs).

#3 Symbolism of the Midlands Grand Hotel, aka the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel. St Pancras, and the glorious Gothic hotel appended to the rail shed, was built by the Midland Railway Company in the 1860s. It was built on Northern wealth, showing London where its money came from.

This is not …

#1. An answer to every business. I know the science and tech startup ecosystem, but there may be types of businesses that wouldn’t benefit from a London day.

#2. A trade mission or shop front for South Yorkshire businesses.

I’ve previously taken part in a SYMCA “trade mission” to London. It was a helpful day, but they’re not what I’m advocating for here.

Sheffield is too close to London for us to only run occasional trade missions. A 2-hour train journey should be a commute, not a mission.

We need to be rooted in London networks. Whether these networks are with other tech founders, VCs, or political networks. London has energy, ambition, and knowledge that we want to benefit from, not just sell to.