You no longer have to move to London to make it – words Alexa Wang

London has long been the epicentre of wealth creation and innovation in the UK. Many students and young people up and down the country would respond to the draw of the bright lights of the capital at the first opportunity, in an attempt to be part of that energy and to try to make their mark.

Over the years there have been moves to stem this tide. Famously Factory Records in Manchester challenged the notion that anyone trying to make it in the music industry would automatically have to move to London.

But still the pull of London burned brightly in those who were full of ideas and wanted to prove themselves. The last few years though, has seen a change in attitudes. Escalating housing prices and the cost of living has reached saturation point and the downside of London living is obvious to many especially for those starting out on a shoestring.

Well a positive answer to this dilemma is to take your energy and your ideas and set up somewhere else. As part of the giffgaff Perspectives video series, created in partnership with VICE, we can see the stories of two people who are part of this new trend. They both have that essential entrepreneurial spirit but they are expressing themselves in locations a world away from the capital.

First we get to meet Amy Redmond, a founder of London club collective Sink the Pink, who has chosen to leave London and set up in Margate. Amy is helping to energise an emerging art scene in the seaside town which is being reinvented as a result. This is a phenomenon that was restricted to central London’s outliers – think Hoxton and Shoreditch – but is now happening in smaller towns more distant from the capital. Redmond and her boyfriend, Luke Vandenberg, have converted an empty shop in an arts venue and are putting on shows and events that are making it one of the hubs of a developing community of likeminded creatives. It’s a tactic that brings much needed innovation to towns outside the London bubble, with resources and ideas spinning off each other in places in desperate need of them.

Jordan Hassell has chosen a different path again. He has never left his home town of Crewe. Now 25, he left university early to follow his passion for all things food. He also has that creative entrepreneurial spirit which has led him to set up his inventive food business Jordy’s Pizza which is essentially a wood fired pizza oven on the back of a bright yellow pickup. A mainstay of many events in and around Crewe, he sees family and roots as important. Why not stay in your hometown and bring about change rather than instantly move to London? Jordan reckons it’s cheaper and better for him to stay put and follows his dreams in the town where he was born.

The video was created by the award winning documentary maker, Ben Addelman, and gives a real insight into the different ways young people are adapting their dreams and passions and following them outside the capital.