Facebook’s new engineering office in London, its first ever outside the US, will be used as a breeding ground for the site’s new mobile products, reports techweekeurope.co.uk.
Founder Mark Zuckerberg has stressed numerous times that his site doesn’t generate as much revenue via mobile channels as it perhaps should, especially given the amount of mobile device users that have an account.
To combat this, a team of around 20 bright sparks in the tech world will aim to improve the Facebook experience for smartphone and tablet users – along with companies investing in Facebook marketing – at the network’s new London headquarters.
Led by Philip Su, formally the lead engineer for Facebook video calling, the team will also work on platform and machine learning products for the site. It’s thought that most of Mr Su’s team have been sourced locally and were put through their paces at a six-week ‘boot camp’ before being taken into consideration.
Other senior members of staff to be housed at the Covent Garden lab include developers of Facebook’s App Centre, Timeline and Ticker.
Mike Schroepfer, Facebook’s vice president of engineering, expressed his delight at being able to place Facebook’s first major European engineering centre in the “global technology hub” of London.
Mr Schroepfer went on to tell telegraph.co.uk: ”The London engineering team will play a crucial role in development of future products and core technology for Facebook. I can’t wait to see what they build here.”