California ride-hailing business Uber has officially added the fast-growing Cambridge UK science & technology cluster to its map.

A communication from the company confirms: “We are ready to press the GO button and add Cambridge to the Uber map! Thousands of riders in Cambridge have already downloaded the Uber app and are waiting for awesome partner-drivers to pick them up.”

Uber has been inviting potential partners to private information sessions this week to explain how Uber works, how to get started on the platform and what rewards are on offer.

The company is anchoring its Cambridge operation from Vision Park in Histon having received an operation licence from the city council.

The San Francisco company’s mobile app allows consumers with smartphones to submit a trip request, which a software programme automatically sends to the Uber driver nearest to the consumer, alerting the driver to the location of the customer.

Uber drivers use their own personal cars and by the height of summer the service was available in more than 66 countries and 507 cities worldwide.

Leading UK trades union are monitoring Uber’s activities following the landark employment tribunal ruling that Uber drivers are company employees not self employed contractors so must receive the minimum wage.

Uber’s arrival in Cambridge is set to provide a fresh spin to the city’s transport revolution following last year’s arrival of Gett, the global taxi app that works exclusively with licensed Hackney carriages and black cabs across the UK.

Following success in London and increased demand for services in outlying areas, Gett pinpointed Cambridge as a key location in the company’s rapid growth and recruitment drive across Britain. It claimed 1,000 new drivers were joining Gett each month.

Uber’s launch following Gett provides a major challenge to existing cab companies and could trigger a price war – to the benefit of a population growing after the arrival of a record number of global tech giants from the US, Europe and Asia.