According to ECO, the British car marketplace Constellation Automotive Group is opening a technology hub in Coimbra, its first outside the UK and the centre will start with more than 50 people, but by the end of the year, the group wants to hire around 100 people and, in three years, reach 250 hires.

“We are thrilled to officially announce the opening of the Constellation Tech Club in Coimbra, a city with a strong academic tradition and great technological potential. This presence in Portugal will allow us to continue working on innovative and market-leading opportunities that are at the forefront of technological advancement in the European automotive sector. The new hub will be a vital extension of our global technology team and crucial to driving our growth and the development of new products and platforms”, announced Robert Teagle, CIO of Constellation Automotive Group.

The Cidade de Coimbra Stadium was the venue selected by the British group – which owns brands such as BCA (which operates in the fully digital B2B used car business in the UK and Europe), Cinch (which operates in the B2C car segment), WeBuyAnyCar (the UK’s largest car buying service) and Marshall (one of the ten largest dealer groups in Europe, with 142 dealers in the UK, representing 23 of the world’s leading manufacturers) – to host the first technology hub in Portugal.

Hub is recruiting

Present in more than 20 European countries, the group has more than 16,000 employees. In Portugal, it already has more than 50 people at the technology centre, working in areas such as operations, design, product, cybersecurity and engineering, and “enjoying a hybrid working model and flexible working hours”. The aim is to recruit 100 more people by the end of the year and reach 250 employees in three years. The group is currently recruiting.

The group’s ambition is to make the Coimbra hub “one of the group’s largest technological development centres”.

“The total area of the Tech Hub in Coimbra is 500 square meters, and there is potential to expand the space inside the Stadium – which was a key factor in the selection of the location”, an official source explained.

“The focus will be on developing a range of technological solutions on multiple platforms for all the group’s companies, using Agile methodologies, automation capabilities and innovative models”, declared the company.

“We’re very pleased with the high calibre of the employees we’ve already had the opportunity to integrate into the Constellation Tech Hub, which is obviously an excellent indicator of the quality of the talent that Portugal has to offer. We are very motivated to work in collaboration with universities, organisations and start-ups in the region to develop and explore new technologies, reinforcing our mission to innovate in the automotive sector and our role in the local community”, said José Gaspar, the group’s CPO.