London is now Facebook’s largest software engineering base outside the United States following another huge investment in the UK.
Seven months after taking a large site in west London, Facebook has leased 600,000 sq ft at three buildings in King’s Cross.
The buildings can provide employment for 6,000 employees, offering a significant boon to the economy.
Steve Hatch, Facebook’s Managing Director for Northern Europe, said:
“The UK is one of the best places in the world to be a technology company and we’re investing here for the long term.
Many of Facebook’s most significant global products, from Workplace to social VR applications for Oculus, were developed right here in London, now our biggest engineering base outside the US.”
Facebook’s team responsible for protecting users is based in the UK. The company is hoping to capitalise on local AI talent to further boost this part of its business that is ever coming under increased scrutiny.
UK-US Investment
US President Donald Trump may have only just left from his first official UK visit, where he and UK Prime Minister Theresa May promised to work on a US-UK trade deal, but that’s not slowing Silicon Valley giants from investing heavily in the UK.
In fact, the UK and US are the largest single investors in each other’s countries:
British companies have invested more than $480 billion in the US, providing over 1.1 million jobs to Americans.
US firms have invested nearly $600 billion in the UK market, providing over 1.4 million jobs to Brits.
The US Chamber of Commerce notes that “US jobs supported by British investment are high quality and highly paid—in manufacturing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, information technology, and financial services, among other sectors.
Furthermore, the countries have a strong and relatively equal trade relationship:
The US exported $123 billion of goods and services to the UK, making it the UK’s 2nd largest source of imports.
The UK exported $111 billion in goods and services to the US.
If a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and US can be agreed, both countries are set to benefit massively and build upon these already strong ties.
Silicon Valley Investments
Silicon Valley giants like Facebook, Google, and Apple have all been expanding their presence in the UK aggressively.
As Developer reported last month, the UK is Apple’s most important market in Europe with over 290,000 jobs linked to the App Store and directly employing over 6,500 people. The company is building a new London headquarters at the historic Battersea Power Station site.
Just around the corner from Facebook’s new offices in King’s Cross will be Google’s new headquarters. Google’s building will be longer than the iconic ‘Shard’ skyscraper is tall and the first to be wholly owned by, and designed specifically for, Google outside the US.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “This investment is great news. We welcome Facebook’s long-term commitment, which is further evidence that London is open for business and a world-leading destination for major tech companies.”
The investments made since the Brexit vote will be seen as a vote of confidence in the UK economy following its decision to leave the EU and pursue its own trade policies.
However, there’s been some question over whether the ‘Chequers’ deal being pitched by Prime Minister Theresa May provides the needed flexibility to negotiate trade deals because it legally binds the UK to the EU’s rules.
Critics have said the Chequers deal would leave the UK as an EU ‘colony’ and prompted many cabinet resignations.
What are your thoughts on Silicon Valley’s latest investments? Let us know in the comments.
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