PR agency paid £100,000 to promote Tech City abroad
Business Minister Mark Prisk has confirmed that PR agency Hill and Knowlton will be in charge of promoting David Cameron’s Tech City overseas, after it is announced the Central Office of Information has been scrapped.
Tech City is the plan launched by Cameron in November 2010, to build a technology centre in London to rival those in Silicon Valley.
After the COI was officially axed yesterday, trade union Prospect warned that this could lead to the government becoming reliant on ‘expensive’ marketing agencies.
UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), who will lead the marketing of the project in the UK, said to www.PublicService.co.uk they believed the PR agency was excellent value for money, adding: “So far the agency has attracted 20 new overseas companies to Tech City and 15 venture capitalists. The latter is particularly important to the expansion and long-term future of Tech City.”