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Facebook said it would expand its U.K. presence by 50 percent in 2017, joining U.S. technology peer Google in boosting investment in Britain despite the uncertainty sparked by the vote to leave the European Union.



Social network firm Facebook said it would hire 500 new staff, adding to the 1,000 people it already employs in Britain, as it gears up to open a new headquarters in London next year. Before the Brexit referendum in June, pro-Remain campaigners had warned that international companies could seek to reduce their presence in Britain as withdrawing from the EU would make it a less attractive place to invest. But Facebook said on Monday that was not the case.