Tim Cook and UK Prime Minister Theresa May Discuss Apple's Presence in Country Amid Brexit [Update]

Continuing on his lengthy European tour today, Apple CEO Tim Cook has now stopped in London and had a chat with UK Prime Minister Theresa May. According to a spokesperson for May speaking with Business Insider, the meeting focused on Apple's continued investment in the United Kingdom amid the recent turmoil surrounding Brexit. Overall, the meeting was said to have been "a very positive and useful discussion."

"It was a meeting with the prime minister. It was a very positive and useful discussion. Apple have made a recent announcement about their investment in the UK and they had a conversation around that and the importance of government and business on digital skills which going forward will clearly be a huge part of the future industry. It was a chance for the prime minister to outline her plans for negotiating our EU exit. It was also a chance for her to reiterate and welcome Apple's investment in the UK."

The meeting took place at Downing Street at 10AM local time today, and followed Cook's visiting of locations including Marseille, Paris, Vreden, Berlin, and Glasgow. On the Vreden, Germany leg of his trip that took place earlier this week, the Apple CEO even met with Dula, a furniture manufacturer that works with Apple to create some of the furniture and hardware used in Apple's retail stores.

Europe is Apple's second largest market in terms of revenue, and like all other territories the company continues to expand its presence in the area. Last September, it was announced that Apple was working on building a new UK headquarters in London's Battersea Power Station, expected to be complete by 2021. The UK is expected to leave the European Union by 2019, so it appears Cook is using his European trip to prepare Apple for the upcoming shift in UK business and politics happening over the next few years.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Update: Tim Cook tweeted that he met with the mayor of London today and that he is "incredibly excited about Apple's future in London."

Great to meet @MayorofLondon today. We are incredibly excited about Apple's future in London and the 🇬🇧! https://t.co/pOYdisFAit
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) February 9, 2017

Cook also visited Woodberry Down Primary School while on his trip in London.

Tag: Tim Cook

Top Rated Comments

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yaxomoxay

23 months ago

PM May: "Tim, we have amazing taxes for you in our pipeline."

Rating: 19 Votes

Porco

23 months ago

I hope Tim had a private word about how insane the Snoopers' Charter is. And I hope Theresa had a private word about how insane the huge price increases on ancient computers are.

Rating: 10 Votes

Porco

23 months ago

1. There's no indication that Apple will fork their software to compromise security for the UK or anyone else.

2. The PM shouldn't be engaging in price-fixing of any private company. Apple sells for what the market will bear, and they aren't the only brand around.

1. I didn't say they would?! What an odd thing to say. The Snoopers' Charter isn't really something within Apple's control, but Cook has expressed concerns about individuals' privacy and data. As such it might be something he could express a view on.

2. I didn't say she should?! Expressing concern for consumers being charged at heavily increased prices for ageing technology not updated in years would be entirely legitimate and does not equate to price-fixing in any way. More like sensible advice...

I don't actually expect either of them said anything about either issue anyway.

Rating: 8 Votes

Nevaborn

23 months ago

Tim really should of been told we will increase business with a apple if they drop the price of their consumer tech.

Apple are quickly pricing themselves out of the U.K. Market.

Rating: 5 Votes

matt3526

23 months ago

Given the pound's rise against the dollar since January they should discuss Timmy lowering the price of Apple stuff too.

Rating: 5 Votes

mkeeley

23 months ago

Given the pound's rise against the dollar since January they should discuss Timmy lowering the price of Apple stuff too.

That only works one way and it's not down.

Rating: 3 Votes

nia820

23 months ago

MacBooks will start at £5,000 and maybe iPhones will start at £2,000. Lol

Rating: 3 Votes

djcerla

23 months ago

PM May: "Tim, we have amazing taxes for you in our pipeline."

more like tax breaks.

Rating: 2 Votes

Shaun, UK

23 months ago

Apple pays whatever it has to pay. Taxes are paid by what is legal and not what is FAIR.

All corporations use every available strategy to pay as little in taxes as possible.

The lawmakers are the problem, not the tax payers. Sometimes the tax code is not
clear and has to be "interpreted"

This circus will NEVER change!

May upset you, but a waste of time! Let's move on!

I agree the UK government should close all the tax loopholes and slap Apple with a whopping great tax bill. That would make me very happy.

Apple claims to be a force for good in the world when in reality they're just another greedy, money grabbing, tax dodging evil corporate. If they want to behave like that then they should stop pretending to take the moral high ground.

Rating: 1 Votes

Kaibelf

23 months ago

I hope Tim had a private word about how insane the Snoopers' Charter is. And I hope Theresa had a private word about how insane the huge price increases on ancient computers are.

Given the pound's rise against the dollar since January they should discuss Timmy lowering the price of Apple stuff too.

Computer prices don't rise and fall day-by-day like petroleum. Once the pound is stable for longer than a month perhaps it would make sense to revisit the exchange rate and adjust accordingly.

Rating: 1 Votes

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