Snapchat cites faith in UK creative industries as it establishes new international hub in London

Snap Inc, the company behind photo and video-sharing app Snapchat, will establish a base of operations in London that will act as the main hub for its business dealings outside of the US.

The decision by Snapchat to set up a major base in the UK capital is seen as a massive win for post-Brexit Britain, amidst fears that businesses will drift away from the UK in order to remain part of the European Single Market. Claire Valoti, general manager of Snap Group Limited in the UK, said the UK was "a great place to build a global business".

The start-up will establish its international base near to its existing offices in Soho in London's West End, where revenues from the UK and countries where Snapchat has no local presence will be booked.

While Snapchat has yet to turn a profit, the company plans to float itself on the stock market this year with a valuation of up to $25bn (£20.5bn, €23.6bn). The app has more than 150m daily active users globally, of which over 50m are situated in Europe and over 10m are in the UK specifically.

Other major technology companies such as Apple, Google and Facebook have opted to headquarter themselves in neighbouring countries such as Ireland in order to take advantage of lower corporation tax, a practice that has been heavily criticised by EU regulators.

"We believe in the UK creative industries," Valoti said. "The UK is where our advertising clients are, where more than ten million daily Snapchatters are, and where we've already begun to hire talent."