A British company selling virtual reality products hopes to move to Bermuda and hire local staff.

Ed Mason, chief executive officer of Core Ltd, said he was tired of shuttling 5,000 miles between his offices in London, England and Silicon Valley, California.

“Being situated in Bermuda would be ideal,” he said. “We have been coming to the island for the past couple of weeks. We are looking to get a company incorporated here. To begin with we will hire ten to 15 people, but we will scale up quite quickly.”

Company chief futurist, Maxim Jago, said while they were on the island last week, several people asked ‘why Bermuda’.

“Bermuda has a unique geographical location that is perfectly positioned between Europe and the United States,” Mr Jago said. “It has British law and a British-based legal system which is good because we are familiar with it. It is a great place to form a company for legal and tax purposes.”

Mr Mason first became aware of Bermuda when he and Mr Jago met the Bermuda Development Agency at a fintech event in London. They were invited to come to Bermuda and sit on a panel at a local fintech event.

They fell in love with the Island.

Mr Mason said Bermuda’s tech-friendly attitude made the island an attractive place to settle.

“The uncertainty of Brexit is definitely a contributing factor to our move over here, but it is more the emerging tech fostering attitude of this country that is most attractive,” Mr Mason said.

“This Government has toured the world scouting the best talent in the tech world, bringing them to Bermuda where bleeding-edge technology can blossom in an ideal and safe global location.”

Now they are looking for a CFO who is both familiar with Bermuda, and with technology.

“Also, we want someone who is capable of taking what we have and bringing it to Bermuda in the most efficient way possible,” Mr Mason said.

They have already enlisted Alex Marshall to act as development liaison.

“We met Alex Marshall the last time we came out here,” Mr Mason said. “He will be one of our first gentlemen on the ground helping us. He is incredibly familiar with emerging technologies.”

Mr Marshall, and is an entertainer and a blockchain expert. This week, Mr Marshall lined up a series of meetings between Mr Mason and Mr Jago and local movers and shakers, such as David Burt, the Premier, Wayne Caines, Minister of National Security, and Minister of Health Kim Wilson.

Mr Mason said everyone they’d met seemed interested in what they had to offer.

“We have been developing this technology since 2012,” Mr Mason said. “Since then we have been continuing research and development. It has been a team effort.”

They started the incorporation process for CORE Ltd a few months ago, and are finalising administration and bringing on board local talent.

When the process is done, they will move four staff members from the UK to Bermuda, including Mr Mason. They hope to open their doors within the next 30 days.

Mr Jago said, compared to other places they could set up in, Bermuda seemed very safe.

“It has a very progressive Government, and the people are kind,” he said. “I would feel comfortable about bringing staff to Bermuda, and feel they would be safe and have a good quality of life. There also seems to be a strong drive in Bermuda to support technology companies like ours. We want to enter into a dialogue with the Bermuda Government.”

He called Bermuda a “technology jewel in the ocean” with great potential for technology companies.

Mr Mason has been working in immersive technology since 2009.

Running research and development company GameFace Labs, Mr Mason developed the first wireless virtual reality headset in 2012, and the first full HD headset and in 2014, among other things.

“We first worked with the British ministry of defence, training the British military how to use 3D stereoscopic technology, providing them with a lot of equipment,” he said. “Now my company, Core Ltd, has an ultra low power consumption mobile supercomputer, capable of powering augmented and virtual reality headsets as well as traditional televisions.”

He hopes to have his new products on store shelves by November.

• For more information see www.core.live