Tech City CEO Joanna Shields to step down

Joanna Shields is to relinquish her role as Tech City UK CEO next month, and hand over responsibility for running the east London tech hub to Gerard Grech.

Shields is stepping down after 15 months in the role, but will continue serving as chairman of the Tech City board.

A statement, announcing her departure, said the move will allow Shields to focus her efforts on promoting the UK tech sector across the world in her role as a UK Business Ambassador for Digital Industries.

It's been an eventful couple of months for Shields, as she made it on to the New Year Honours list in December, and was awarded an OBE for services to the digital industries and voluntary service to young people.

Grech, who has previously worked with app developers and startups at BlackBerry, Nokia and Orange, will assume the CEO position on 3 February 2014.

Shields hailed her successor's past experience, and said it should stand him in good stead in his new role as CEO.

"He brings a strong combination of startup and corporate development knowledge to the team, plus many years experience in developing and marketing digital products and services," said Shields.

"The Government has created a policy landscape that's transformed the UK's startup scene [and] our goal now is to build on these foundations and help growth-stage businesses scale rapidly and generate jobs,"

Tech City in East London has been home to a number of tech firms for several years, and in 2010 the Government embarked on an initiative to stimulate the area's growth by encouraging more companies to set up shop there.

Since then, the area has seen an influx of new companies investing money in it, while Tech City has also embarked on several national programmes to encourage further growth, including its Future Fifty campaign.

Grech said he was looking forward to overseeing the next stage in Tech City's development.

"My role, together with Joanna and the team, will be to help take things to the next level, delivering on key initiatives, introducing more partnerships and further solidifying Tech City in the international tech scene," he said.

"As a Shoreditch resident, I'm especially keen that our initiatives serve the wider local community, keeping the ground fertile for the next wave of digital start-ups," Grech added.