Speed Traders Invade Sleepy Corner of England, Locals Bristle
- Four firms are looking to build 300-meter radio masts in Kent
- Inducements include money for school and community fund
Richborough Castle, England
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The farms, Roman ruins and narrow lanes of southeast England hardly look like fertile ground for high-tech finance.
Yet it’s the tiny Kent village of Richborough -- 80 miles (129 kilometers) east of the wheeling and dealing of London’s stock, bond and currency markets -- that a group of computerized-trading firms have identified as key to their future. They want to build radio masts as tall as the Eiffel Tower to create the fastest communication link between the U.K. capital and Frankfurt and trade securities at close to the speed of light. A decision on whether one or more gets the go-ahead is due as early as next month.