Michael Noonan, the Minister of Finance, has officially opened Uber’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Thomas Street, Limerick.

The Centre will become a major hub of Uber’s support organisation across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, driving innovation and service excellence for the community of users in the region.

This is Uber’s first Centre of Excellence outside of the United States and will support millions of riders and tens of thousands of partner-drivers in more than 30 cities in 10 countries.

The company has invested over €4m in the city so far as it aims to make Limerick one of its growing network of customer service hubs across the world. The investment is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland.

Uber signed a ten year lease on a site on Thomas Street, which underwent a major redesign and refit. Today, the Centre of Excellence will officially open with 100 employees, who have been recruited since August. The centre will house more than 300 full-time staff when fully operational.

Michael Noonan, Minister for Finance, said: “The establishment of Uber’s Centre of Excellence is another fantastic announcement for Limerick City. When the centre is fully operational there will be 300 people working in the heart of the city.  2015 was a record year for creating jobs, with Limerick benefiting from an influx of foreign direct investment. The establishment of this Centre of Excellence is a great start to 2016 and I wish Uber well with this exciting project.”

Kieran Harte, General Manager for Uber Ireland said:

“We are proud to be opening the first Centre of Excellence outside the US in Ireland. The Centre is dedicated to delivering a world class support experience and we have been focused on hiring only the highest calibre of people. The majority of our employees are local, which speaks to the wealth of talent in the greater Limerick area. We look forward to the Centre growing in Limerick as Uber’s business grows across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and throughout Ireland.”