Technology

Posted on June 12, 2017 by staff

BGL Group opens White Collar Factory tech hub in Shoreditch

Technology

BGL Group has opened a new tech hub at the White Collar Factory on Silicon Roundabout in London’s Shoreditch.

BGL Group is home to price comparison website comparethemarket.com and a leading digital distributor of household financial products to over eight million customers in the UK.

The Group’s new offices, which occupy the entire sixth floor of the 16-story building, will be its first permanent London base, in addition to its offices in Peterborough, Sunderland, Wakefield and Paris. Over 150 employees will be accommodated in the 14,300sq ft space.

BGL Group’s CEO Matthew Donaldson said: “For us it’s a priority to stay at the forefront of digital technology so that we can best support our customers with mobile apps and websites with a laser focus on user experience.

“Basing ourselves at White Collar Factory, in the heart of London’s thriving tech industry, will allow our teams to work in an atmosphere of creativity, bouncing ideas off colleagues and professionals in the wider industry and continuing to break new ground in digital and data innovation.

“We firmly believe that our new tech-focused hub, with world class connectivity, will support us in attracting and retaining the best talent in digital, brand and data. We’ve equipped our teams with the latest technology and flexible working spaces to allow them to unleash their vision and imagination.”

The White Collar Factory, converted from its former industrial use by Derwent London with architects AHMM, is the winner of the MIPIM Visionary Building award 2016.

The building, set at the heart of a new urban campus, features 3.5m high ceilings, abundant natural light and – a rarity in central London – natural ventilation.

As one of the first developments in London to secure a WiredScore platinum rating for its internet connectivity, it has been independently certified as having leading-edge digital infrastructure, vital for tenants such as BGL which are leaders in the digital economy.

Other features of the development include a rooftop running track, roof terrace with extensive views across London, 276 cycle spaces, flexible working spaces plus a courtyard, cafés and restaurants.

BGL’s tech teams are dedicated to innovation, creating and optimising a fully personalised user experience for millions of customers across the UK.

Some of the roles to be based at the White Collar Factory include full stack software engineers, big data engineers, data scientists specialising in real time data processing and machine learning implementation, and UX designers.

The workspace will include a usability lab – an environment where users are studied interacting with applications – and a mobile device lab to automate the testing of applications across a suite of physical devices.

The office will be led by Jon Mullen, associate director, product engineering, who brings many years of experience in Agile-driven product delivery, having led the delivery of NOWTV and overseen a departmental transformation of over 1,300 people as head of software excellence & culture at Sky.