CRM company Salesforce plans to invest more than $2.5 billion over the next five years as part of the strategy to enhance its UK business.
Salesforce plans to increase headcount, data centre capacity and office space to support its customer base in the country. Salesforce did not reveal specific details about its hiring plans in the UK.
A Gartner report says Salesforce is the #1 Customer Experience and Customer Relationship Management market share leader worldwide and the #1 Customer Experience and Customer Relationship Management in the UK based on software revenue in 2017.
“The UK is Salesforce’s largest market in Europe and our commitment to driving growth, innovation and customer success in the region has never been stronger,” said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce.
British companies including Addison Lee, Aston Martin, British Airways, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Funding Circle, The Nottingham and Rated People are some of the customers of Salesforce to power their digital transformations.
“Salesforce has been a trusted partner for the digital transformation of our Contact Centre, which helped accelerate productivity and engagement across our teams,” said Tony Ackroyd, director of Operations & Customer Services, DVLA.
Salesforce UK last month opened its first European Salesforce Innovation Centre in Salesforce Tower London.
Salesforce recently announced plans to expand its data centre capacity with a second UK data centre in 2019.
Salesforce will foster British innovation through Salesforce Ventures’ $100 million EMEA Fund. In the UK, Salesforce Ventures has invested in several companies driving technology innovation including Onfido, DigitalGenius, Qubit and NewVoiceMedia.
Salesforce Accelerate – a four-month accelerator program designed to provide learning and support for start-ups and accelerate their time-to-market with the Salesforce AppExchange – is also taking place this summer, coming to EMEA for the first time.
Salesforce and its ecosystem of customers and partners in the UK is expected to generate more than $65 billion of net new business revenues by 2022. It’s also expected to create more than 329,000 direct and indirect jobs in the same timeframe, according to IDC.