The new London location is in addition to the Finsbury Circus office that was opened in 2009, and will house a major part of its growing base of cloud-based technology division focused on mobility and security, which includes Meraki Networks, one of the fastest-growing business areas within Cisco since it was acquired in 2012.
Cisco’s UK operations started in High Wycombe in 1992, and they have expanded significantly since. Beyond its two Central London offices the UK business houses around 5,000 people in corporate, sales and technical functions across 14 locations, including Manchester, Edinburgh and Chandler’s Ford, with the 267,000 sq ft Bedfont Lakes (Feltham) site Cisco’s UK HQ.
The announcement is the latest realisation of Cisco’s country digitisation commitment to further support UK growth and the country’s wider digitisation plans following news in July this year to invest over $1 billion in the UK over the next three to five years.
Cisco’s digitisation strategy is a long-term commitment to a partnership with national leadership, industry and academia to deliver real outcomes faster and more effectively. It aims to accelerate the national digitisation agenda, grow GDP, create new jobs and invest in sustainable innovation ecosystem across public and private sectors.
Phil Smith, chief executive, Cisco UK & Ireland, said: “To support our continued growth in the UK, we have secured space in this exceptional building giving us the capacity to hire new employees in London in the coming years. At Cisco we are committed to supporting the UK as it undergoes its own country digitisation process. Investment in a sophisticated and forward-thinking IT network ecosystem is important to ensure the UK has the technological backbone to deliver greater connectivity, productivity and security, which are essential to realise the full potential of any digitisation programme, be that for a government, or a business. Digitisation has the potential to create sustainable and positive impact for every area of society as well as drive a stronger economy and foster increased opportunities for the UK on a global stage."
Todd Nightingale, general manager, Cisco Meraki, comments, “The value of IT has always been derived from the intelligence contained in data. But as we see on a daily basis, data is exploding and is increasingly distributed across every part of every organisation and process – on premise, at the edge, and of course in clouds. Harnessing data is an integral part of what powers digitisation, and businesses and governments must understand how to extract digital value from their data sets to get ahead of the competition, reshape markets and change the way we work and live. Today’s announcement therefore is not only important for us at Cisco as we realise our own growth plans in the UK, but it is further recognition of our nation’s increasing importance as a leading hub for digital innovation.”
