Chapter 534: Science and Technology City Launched

By the time Barron returned to London, the impact of the News Corporation "phone-hacking" incident had been brought under control.

Of course, it was far from being eliminated. It was only after News Corporation announced the permanent closure of the News of the World and several executives of News Corporation, including News International CEO Rebecca Brooks, announced their resignation and accepted investigation that the destructive power of this incident on News Corporation in the UK was controlled within a certain range.

This was also largely related to the tacit understanding between Barron and Murdoch after the completion of some transactions - in this way, under Murdoch's personal network activities, the British government would not pursue him relentlessly after gaining some "results".

It can be said that there is always a new hot spot to replace the old hot spot.

During this period, the most concerned thing of the British media was no longer the "phone-hacking" incident of News Corporation. What occupied more pages in many newspapers was the news about Prince William and Cather's breakup...

The British media broke the news of their breakup on April 15, and then countless reporters surrounded Cather's residence on Oxford Street.

According to media reports, at 10:30 am on the 16th, Cather's brother James drove and returned to Cather's London apartment from her parents' home.

Then, Cather combed her hair, put on a pair of gold earrings, and walked out of the house with a tennis racket.

At that time, Cather smiled and walked straight to the paparazzi waiting at the door.

Then, the two drove back to the tennis court at their parents' home to play.

It is reported that "Cather has many close and trusted friends. If she wants to avoid the media, it is not a problem at all."

However, Cather obviously does not want to do this.

Just like on the evening of the 16th, a close friend of Cather revealed:

"Cather feels that running away is the worst choice. She doesn't want people to think that she is sad and can't face reality. If she leaves now, people don't know what conclusions they will draw. Cather is a strong girl and has the support of her family. She doesn't need people's pity."

...

"Because of the recent situation, I gave Cather a two-week vacation to let her adjust her mood first..."

Barron first met Yulia Moore. The Harrods where Cather works is owned by the Devonshire Family Trust, and Yulia also serves as the chairman of Harrods.

Of course, the meeting between the two was not so formal. Their conversation took place on the bed of Yulia's residence...

"As for the media that came to the store to interview, we have dealt with them. By the way, Cather said that she wanted to meet you."

Yulia didn't know about Cather's past with Barron - after all, it was at most a casual encounter.

Because Barron has a good relationship with William and has arranged a job for Cather at Harrods, Yulia just mentioned Cather's desire to meet Barron casually, and did not think too much about it. She just thought that the other party wanted to talk about William through Barron.

"Recently, the media's attention has been focused on her. Let's wait until this matter cools down a little before talking about it."

Yulia also agreed with Barron's words:

"Now there are many reports that gloat over the misfortune, and they are all laughing at the joke. It is best not to get involved too much and wait to arrange a quiet place to meet."

...

April 20, Thursday.

Brown attended the launch ceremony of London Science City in East London.

The Prime Minister said that he would vigorously promote Britain's technological innovation capabilities, and the government would provide preferential policies to support companies and start-ups in Science City.

At first, Digital Future Investment Company under Caesar Fund bought a dilapidated warehouse in Shoreditch, East London, and then built the 15-story Digital Future Building. At that time, in addition to DailyVedio settling in here, Digital Future Building also became an incubator for technology projects.

Now, DailyVedio has built a new headquarters building next to the Digital Future Building, and the Digital Future Building has completely become an incubator, providing some start-ups with low rent and investment support, providing initial development space.

In addition, Klarna Pay also moved its headquarters here from Sweden.

The e-commerce business of Argos Retail Group has also built a research and development and operation center nearby.

It can be said that Shoreditch at this time has been very different from the original dilapidated old town. Many new buildings continue to appear, showing a vibrant scene.

It can be said that after the participation of Digital Future Investment Company and related Internet companies, the development of this area has been promoted.

Therefore, after seeing the current results, in order to help the original industrial cluster to become larger, the Brown government issued a plan to support the development of a "mini Silicon Valley" and build East London into a high-tech industrial center, named "London Technology City".

The government will invest more than 500 million pounds to support the development of Technology City, formulate preferential policies and ensure that part of the space in the new building is used as an incubation area.

At present, large companies including Cisco, Intel, Qualcomm, Woaw, Google and others are about to move in, and financial institutions such as Barclays Bank will also provide special financing services for start-ups.

In the original time and space, London Science City was not launched until 2010, mainly promoted by Cameron who came to power later and Johnson, the mayor of London at that time.

However, now with Barron behind it, the project of this science city has also received Brown's support in advance.

After participating in the launch event of the science city, Brown also met with Barron.

In this meeting, he still talked about the topic he had mentioned before, that is, he hoped to promote more industries to land in the UK to enhance the industrial capacity of the UK and improve the current situation of its industrial hollowing out.

Generally speaking, if the proportion of manufacturing in GDP is less than 15%, it can be regarded as industrial hollowing out. According to data in 2006, the added value of manufacturing in Germany accounted for 20.66% of GDP, the EU region accounted for 15.81%, and the UK accounted for only 10.04%!

Outside the EU, China is 32.45%, Japan is 21.4%, and the United States is 12.99%...

It can be clearly seen that both Britain and the United States are facing industrial hollowing out, especially Britain.

The common points between Britain and the United States are that they both have developed financial industries, mature markets, and strong capital.

If financial capital is too strong, it will squeeze out the capital of the real industry. In addition, the financial industry makes money quickly, so that the citizens of the two countries who are used to making quick money by lying down are unwilling to work hard in the manufacturing industry.

On the contrary, the financial capital strength of China, Germany and Japan is not so strong, and Germany has always been very cautious about the financial industry.

In Germany, there is no big deal in finance and real estate. Only by engaging in real estate and scientific research can there be a way out - at least so far.

And this trend of sluggish manufacturing in Britain is still continuing. In Barron's previous life, by 2018, the added value of Britain's manufacturing industry accounted for only 8.83% of GDP...

Among the major countries in the world, it ranks at the bottom...

It can be said that John Bull is quite weak.

After all, Brown had been Chancellor of the Exchequer for nine years. He hopes to make a difference as Prime Minister, so he also hopes to change the current situation to some extent.