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Snapchat to Put European Base in UK despite Brexit | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A billboard displays the logo of Snapchat above Times Square in New York March 12, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson


The company behind Messaging app Snapchat said it would make London the home of its European base, delivering another vote of confidence in Britain’s tech standing as the country prepares to leave the European Union.

The company, which has 150 million daily users a day worldwide, will book sales in countries where it has no local entity in Britain rather than routing them through lower tax jurisdictions like Ireland and Luxembourg as some other U.S. tech companies do.

Snap Inc, which plans to go public this year in the biggest U.S. stock market debt since 2014, said the UK’s strong creative industries made the country “a great place to build a global business.”

Despite the uncertainty sparked by the Brexit vote, London has remained attractive to global tech firms due to its pool of talent in the creative and tech sectors, many of whom have come from Europe and further afield.

The city’s position as a global financial hub also provides access to funding for start ups and capital for larger companies.

But Los Angeles-based Snap Inc.’s decision runs counter to that of tech giants like Apple and Google, who have chosen lower tax bases like Ireland.

Claire Valoti, general manager of Snap Group in the U.K., said that the company believes in the UK’s creative industries.

“The UK is where our advertising clients are, where more than 10 million daily Snapchatters are, and where we’ve already begun to hire talent.”

Snapchat started in 2012 as a free mobile app that allows users to send photos that vanish within seconds. It now employs more than 75 staff in London, up from just six a year ago.