after the shopping centre beneath it, while the area surrounding the roundabout is often colloquially known as
, owing to the prominence of British web-based companies there.
In 2008, there were around 15 media and high-tech companies in close proximity of the Silicon Roundabout, which forms the heart of East London Tech City. Plans to help accelerate the growth of the cluster were announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in a speech given in 2010. A year later, Cameron announced that he was appointing entrepreneur Eric van der Kleij to lead the initiative. By 2011, approximately 200 firms were occupying the area, signifying a rapid increase in interest. Wired magazine updated this figure in 2012 and suggested some 5000 tech companies were located in the wider area centred on the Old Street roundabout.
Google Campus opened in March 2012 in a seven-storey building near Old Street roundabout.
Old Street station, beneath the roundabout, was originally opened in November 1901 by the first deep-level tube railway, the City & South London Railway, as part of an extension of its line from Moorgate to Angel. The station is on the Bank branch of London Underground's Northern Line, between Moorgate and Angel stations. It is also between Moorgate and Essex Road stations on National Rail's Northern City Line.
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Old Street Roundabout is sometimes known as St Agnes Well after the shopping centre beneath it, while the area surrounding the roundabout is often colloquially known as Silicon Roundabout, owing to the prominence of British web-based companies there.
