It may be headquartered in California, but Apple has set its sights on the UK.
The tech giant has announced that its investment in Britain has grown to exceed a whopping £18 billion over the past five years.
The company now supports a total of 550,000 jobs in Britain.
This includes through direct employment across its 40 UK stories, its supply chain, and the iOS app economy.
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, is visiting the UK this week and explained that he ‘always loves visiting London, especially over the holidays.’
‘We’ve actually doubled the number of Apple engineers in the UK over the past five years,’ he explained ahead of his visit.
‘They’re doing some really important work and research across many of our products, including helping us push the boundaries of innovation with advancements like Apple Intelligence and Private Cloud Compute.
‘I don’t need to tell you that the UK has a tremendous history of innovation and we’re proud that our technical teams here are working on products that reach customers around the world.’
It may be headquartered in California, but Apple has set its sights on the UK. The tech giant has announced that its investment in the UK has grown to exceed a whopping £18 billion over the past five years
Apple’s first UK store opened on London’s Regent Street on 20 November 2004, and since then, the firm has opened 39 more across the UK.
Its engineering teams are located in London, Cambridge, and throughout the country.
These teams perform critical work and research across a range of products and services, including Apple Inteligence, Apple Music, and Apple TV+.
Meanwhile, its iOS developer community includes some of the ‘world’s most exciting and talented developers’, who are helping to build apps used by iPhone ownerss worldwide.
According to Apple, since the launch of the App Store back in 2008, UK developers have earned nearly £9 billion from selling digital goods and services.
Taiwo Omisore, an independent App developer, said: ‘Being able to dream, create, and share my vision on the App Store—a global platform reaching billions—has been nothing short of a dream come true.
‘With the support of Apple I’ve been able to follow my passion and create experiences that improve the lives of others.
‘The possibilities are endless and I’m excited by what the future holds.’
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, is visiting the UK this week and explained that he ‘always loves visiting London, especially over the holidays’
One of Apple’s growing investments in Britain is expanded Apple TV+ production, which has tripled in the past two years.
This growth not only supports jobs for the cast and crew, but also contracts with suppliers across a range of sectors including construction, manufacturing, hospitality, and technical services.
‘It’s been wonderful to see shows like Bad Sisters, Silo, and Slow Horses gain so many fans all over the world,’ Mr Cook explained.
‘We’re excited to keep producing work like that here in the UK, because we know there are still so many great stories to tell together.’
Beyond that, Apple is also supporting the talent of tomorrow.
Apple has partnered with The King’s Trust since 2019 to help UK students develop the skills and confidence to pursue educational and career opportunities.
‘Inspiring and motivating young people is at the heart of everything we do at The King’s Trust,’ said Jonathan Townsend, UK Chief Executive of The King’s Trust.
‘Our education work with Apple is a fantastic example of how we’re empowering young people to raise their aspirations, develop their skills and realise their potential.
‘It has been brilliant talking with young people here today about how their confidence has grown during their time on programme and I’m incredibly grateful to Apple for helping us make this a reality.’
The tech giant also supports community organisations based near its Battersea office.
This includes Caius House, a centre that helps bridge the education and life skills gap for local youth and young adults.
In addition to donating iPad and MacBook devices to the centre, Apple has also hosted a coding week at Caius House, where more than 100 young people learned new digital skills.
‘It’s great to have Apple in the local community and, with their support, we’ve been able to give young people the opportunity to work with the latest technology and learn from experts about how to put theory into practice,’ said Delrita Agyapong, CEO of Caius House.
