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London tech firm expands to Newcastle digital hub The Core

Science Central, Newcastle’s landmark development for science, business and innovation, is continuing to attract top technology companies to the city.

Mobile technology firm mkodo is the latest business to take office space within The Core, where it will open its technical hub in January next year.

mkodo, a supplier of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and commerce products worldwide, chose to locate in Newcastle after shortlisting over a dozen different cities to move to.

Finally narrowing the shortlist down to Newcastle and Sheffield, the city’s talent pool, high quality graduates, low costs and city culture reportedly swayed the firm’s decision to make the move further North.

Moreover, the commitment and support of Invest Newcastle, the universities and the wider tech community are also said to have solidified the decision.

Stuart Godfree, MD at mkodo, said: “We are excited to continue the growth of our mobile technology business in the vibrant city of Newcastle. The city has a strong digital sector and excellent universities with which mkodo can engage to help drive our innovative and proven product range forward.”

Catherine Walker, Inward Investment Director at Invest Newcastle, said: “We are delighted to welcome mkodo to the city and they are a great addition to the digital sector. They will bring additional expertise, create jobs and will undoubtedly enhance the city’s burgeoning reputation, here in Newcastle, as a tech hot-spot.

“For Newcastle to be chosen over more than a dozen other locations for mkodo’s first office outside of London is a testament to not only the city’s competitive offering but also our increasingly strong digital presence within the UK.

“We’ve seen an influx of digital businesses, with our Inward Investment team supporting 21 businesses locating or expanding here in the past year. Our digital sector has also seen huge investment with £12.5m being invested in city’s digital infrastructure, supporting the thousands of creative and digital businesses across Newcastle. Our ambition is to be internationally recognised as one of the top five cities in digital and technology by 2020 and attracting businesses such as mkodo is a further step towards achieving this.”

Sue Yoxall, ED at mkodo, added: “The Core is an excellent choice for mkodo as it offers a superb space combined with the collaboration possibilities with other Core-located organisations. The Future Cities agenda of Newcastle Science Central also sits well with mkodo. Our mTarget product offers the potential to add an iBeacon infrastructure and ecosystem to buildings/venues, streets or cities.

“This can then be utilised to implement strategies and service that involve understanding the whereabouts of people/animals/assets and/or involve the dissemination of location-based information to users of those spaces.”

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