Procore has announced that it will open a regional hub office in Dublin. This snubs London and Paris, especially London, where Procore already has offices. However, it makes a lot of sense, especially for US companies with staff flying in regularly.
Dublin has a US preclearance facility at its airport. It allows travellers to pass through immigration and customs before landing in the US. It means a much smoother journey for travellers. There is a common language, and unlike London, Ireland is still within the EU, making it easier to expand across the continent. The proximity to the UK will also allow easy access to that market, and it already has an office in London.
The office is 15,000 square feet on the third floor of South Point on Harmony Row. Procore aims to create hundreds of jobs in Dublin in the coming years, hiring across sales, customer success and customer support. It follows the same model that Workday has taken. Workday is currently building a new European headquarters in Dublin and plans to have over 2,500 people employed there.
Brandon Oliveri-O’Connor, VP of EMEA at Procore, commented, “For the past 20 years, Procore has been working to connect everyone in construction on a global platform. Procore’s increasing presence across Europe, the Middle East and Africa speaks to our long-term goal to be the single platform which supports construction professionals across the world.”
A new office, a new leader
Procore has also appointed a new leader for the hub. In July, it appointed Ciaran Cushley as the Head of the EMEA Hub. Cushley was previously Senior Director of Solutions Consulting at DocuSign, where he grew a team of 5 people to 85 in Dublin. He previously led the Sales teams for Brightpearl in the US and led pre-sales for Brightpearl, the retail operations company. The new hub will support the other regional offices in Paris and London and provide a base for further expansion.
Ciaran Cushley, Head of EMEA Hub at Procore, commented: “In this exciting time to join Procore, it is a privilege to lead the new hub which signifies our ambition for continued growth across EMEA. Not only will the hub cement our presence in the region, but it will enable customers to continue to efficiently connect their people, systems and data on one platform – allowing them to fully reap the benefits of construction technology.”
The company has already started hiring with 6 roles currently listed across sales and customer success. It is also looking for bi-lingual speakers, with French/English and Spanish/English currently requested, indicating its expansion efforts elsewhere in the EU. It will hopefully consolidate two separate listings for Irish jobs: Dublin, Country Dublin and Dublin 2, especially as it increases the number of openings.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
The investment in creating such a big office when many organisations are scaling back their presence is significant. It indicates the ambitions of Procore in Europe, though whether such a huge footprint is a wise investment in a world where hybrid working is becoming more common will raise some eyebrows. This is good news for Ireland, where the unemployment rate has already fallen to 4.2%, its lowest in 21 years.
For Procore, the freedom of movement with Europe will mean that it can attract bi-lingual workers from other countries in the European Union, which would have been a challenge in London. It will be interesting to see how quickly the hub grows and how Cushley approaches the increasing demand for flexible work.
