Just Eat opening technology innovation hub in Bristol

Online takeaway service Just Eat is expanding its technology estate with a new specialist development hub in Bristol, which it says will house 30 employees by the end of 2015 and which its CTO believes will “drive the organisation’s next wave of innovation”.

Just Eat said that the new office at Bristol’s Engine Shed – which will initially house 15 staff – will work closely with its existing London-based team as the organisation continues to “focus on innovation aimed at improving the service Just Eat offers to millions of customers and more than 36,000 takeaway partners’ restaurants worldwide”.

Group chief technology officer for Just Eat, Carlos Morgado, said: “Over the past 12 months our technology team has been working hard to deliver everything from new mobile apps to new electronic point-of-sale technology for our restaurant partners.

“The pool of excellent engineering talent in Bristol, Bath and the South West provides us with an ideal base to build on this success and drive the next wave of invention and innovation for our customers around the world.”

Just Eat said that sitting at the heart of a cluster of respected universities, the new Bristol offices provides it with access to a dynamic technology talent pool, and that with plans to establish a graduate recruitment scheme and provide greater flexibility to other staff such as those with young families, Bristol was the ideal location for its expansion.

Chair of Invest Bristol & Bath, Professor Joe McGeehan, said: “This is fantastic news for Bristol and Bath and we are thrilled to welcome yet another major tech player to the region. The news is further recognition that Bristol and Bath’s tech cluster is a vibrant and dynamic hub of innovation which competes on an international level and continues to attract high-profile enterprises to the region.”

Earlier this month, Just Eat officially entered the FTSE 250 with a market capitalisation of around £1.3 billion.