Double-deckers, Buckingham Palace and Harrods -- that's what many people conjure up when they think of London. And now you can add "Internet industry" to that list.

In the past few years, there has been significant growth in the Web industry throughout the UK, and the bulk of the dotcom community is in London. Some compare London to the San Francisco or New York's Silicon Alley of several years ago. According to a report from Forrester Research, "Commerce

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sites will become multinational. Pure plays will launch multinational sites in order to provide them with greater marketing reach, operational efficiencies and transaction volumes." There's a tremendous demand for qualified talent with Internet experience. Americans with even one year at a dotcom under their belts may find that work abounds in London and elsewhere beyond this continent.

For the past two years, Michael Ogden has been working as the head of Flash animation and video at Wide Learning in London. In that time, his staff has grown from three to 14, and the company has gone from 25 to 140 employees. Before joining Wide Learning, he worked the freelancing circuit as a creative producer and consultant for CNN in the US and ITV in the UK, among others. Unlike many Americans working abroad, Ogden was lucky because he had dual citizenship, (born in London to American parents) and he didn't have to worry about working papers.

Before moving to London, Ogden researched the city's Internet industry and discovered that "though the Internet hadn't fully arrived in London, it was certainly heading there." By most accounts, London's Internet industry lags just slightly behind that of the US, and the demand for talent there is as fierce as it is here. "People are still hiring these days. Companies with solid Internet strategies are very busy trying to find the right people to join their teams," says Ogden. "That said, they're also looking for people who have more experience already behind them. The bar has been raised."

"There's been a real increase of awareness in terms of software for the Net and the Internet in general," explains Ogden. "Over the past two years, London has gone through the same transition that the US did -- from initial rumblings of 'What is this Internet thing?' to it having an everyday presence

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in many people's lives. For me, it means the talent pool has grown, so it's easier to recruit." What that also means is that there are more organizations and events (see below) dedicated to introducing the talent to potential employers.

In Internet years, Oliver Grimwood is an industry veteran. This native Londoner has been working in the city's tech sector for the past five years and is currently the head of Web development for Mightymatch.com. Grimwood agrees that opportunities for experienced employees abound.

"You can be pretty choosy about which place you want to work, demand pretty good money and good benefits," says Grimwood. "One thing I will say is that general work practices might not be quite as relaxed as in the US, especially at the bigger existing companies… I think most of the demand today, though, is less by startups and more by large, established companies that have waited for the initial rush to die down."

For Ogden, making the transition to a UK firm has proven to be smooth indeed. In fact, he hasn't found vast cultural differences at all. "The Internet world over here is very open to the American accent," he says, noting that sometimes people assume Americans have the inside track on how to make the Internet work. After all, the US is much further ahead in Internet development and e-commerce.

"London, in general, has more time for Americans these days," says Ogden. "I lived over here during my high school years in the late '80s, and Americans were treated with some suspicion -- much less so these days. My impression is that people remain hungry for strong ideas wherever they may come from, regardless of nationality."

If you've always wanted an adventure and are ready to leap into a different culture, now is a great time to think about working abroad. "I think there are vast opportunities for Americans with experience in previous Internet companies to work in London," says Grimwood. By far, the most sought-after employees are those with tech skills. "Many startup directors would see an American technical director as their ultimate must-have," he concludes.