News
June 2002
Optimism on economy as recovery is predicted
The UK economy appears to be recovering from a recent downturn, although indicators of the state of the economy continue to paint a contradictory picture. Official figures indicate that gross domestic product has been stagnating for the past six months, with industrial and manufacturing output in decline. However, at the same time, surveys by business organisations show rising confidence and suggest that business is enjoying its most favourable conditions for a number of years. Manufacturing seems to have turned the corner, with orders and output on the increase and unemployment continuing to fall, albeit at a slower rate than previously. Margins, however, have been squeezed by higher fuel bills, the first rise in costs for a year.
According to a purchasing managers’ survey by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) in early May, for example, manufacturing demand was rising at its fastest level for two and a half years. Export orders in April recorded their sharpest monthly increase for five years, driven by a manufacturing recovery in the US. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) also reported a sharp rise in optimism, with a survey showing that manufacturing activity in April had increased for the third successive month and had reached its highest level since December 1999. In Scotland, manufacturers reported the biggest rise in orders for 17 months in April while output rose for the third month in a row.
Another survey by CIPS shows that activity in the service industry sector is growing at its fastest rate for more than a year, with new business growth at its highest level in April since February 2001. More than a quarter of companies in the transport and communications, hotels and restaurant and financial services industries said that orders were up on the previous month, although 13 per cent reported a decline.
However, to the surprise of analysts, both manufacturing and industrial output fell in March, by 0.8 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively. This reversed the increases recorded in February and raised the possibility that the country has technically been in recession, defined as two successive quarters of negative growth. The news prompted caution from the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, which in early May decided to keep benchmark interest rates unchanged at their 38-year low of 4 per cent. Many observers believe, however, that a rise in interest rates is inevitable once economic conditions improve.
Over the past 12 months a boom in retail spending has kept the economy afloat and compensated for the decline in manufacturing. Low interest rates have contributed to a boom in the housing market, giving rise to fears of overheating. Retail sales continued to grow in April, fuelled by Easter and fine weather, although they are expected to moderate, with figures from the Office of National Statistics showing that volumes rose by just 0.1 per cent in March.
Most analysts are optimistic, believing that the economy may well have gone through a period of stagnation but is now moving ahead into a period of expansion. "The turn seems to have come no earlier than March, with the pick-up coming in April," Ian McCafferty, the CBI’s chief economist, told the Financial Times. "It is not just optimism: orders, inquiries and activity generally seem to have picked up quite markedly."
Support network established for manufacturers
Help is available to manufacturers in the shape of the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), a new ‘troubleshooting’ network that forms part of a $21 million package of government support for the sector. The MAS, launched under the auspices of the Department of Trade and Industry, is made up of a national network of Centres of Expertise and Regional Centres for Manufacturing Excellence (RCMEs), together with a new website (www.dti.gov.uk/manufacturing/mas). The service allows businesses of all sizes to access more than 100 organisations with expertise in fields such as management, processes, product development, innovation and new technology. The government plans to increase this figure to 500 over time.
Ten RCMEs are planned across the UK, one in Wales and one for each of the English regions. Each will have a core team of professionals who will provide practical support, including site visits and diagnostic analysis; information and advice on specific manufacturing subjects, using workshops and seminars; and information and advice via telephone, e-mail and website. The centres will have both real and virtual links to other centres in the network. New centres have recently been opened for the South East at Hook in Hampshire and for the East Midlands at Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.
Meanwhile the textiles and footwear sector is the first to benefit from another initiative that will see the government set up a network of Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) to address skills and training issues. Skillfast-UK will involve the participation of leading industry figures, who will be given $1.4 million in funding to boost business efficiency through the development of skills and training. The textiles and footwear sector employs more than 300,000 people and is worth an estimated $24 billion a year. It has been selected as one of five key sectors to get its own SSC in the first phase of a new national network. The others are the audio-visual industry; the land-based oil and gas extraction industry; petrol refining and distribution and chemical refining; and the retail industry.
The minimum wage will be increased from October, benefiting around 1.5 million low-paid workers. The government will increase both the main and youth rates of pay by 10p (14c) an hour, setting them at £4.20 ($5.88) and £3.60 ($5.04) respectively. The rates have increased by 50p (70c) and 40p (56c) an hour since September 2001. Some 70 per cent of the beneficiaries are though to be women.
Financial services sector posts record surplus
The UK’s financial services sector produced a record trade surplus last year despite the global stock market slowdown, according to a report by research institute International Financial Services London (IFSL). Led by the City of London, trade in financial services grew to a record $19.7 billion, despite a 15 per cent drop in the value of the FTSE All-Share index. Employment in the sector also rose, with an increase of 17,000 jobs bringing the number of people working in financial services to 1.1 million. However, growth slowed to 3 per cent from the 20 per cent recorded in 2000.
The biggest engine of growth was the insurance industry and in particular motor insurance, which in 2000 was responsible for just under 25 per cent of the total of $51.2 billion in general insurance premiums. Management consultancy also grew strongly, with $11.2 billion in revenue, $2.8 billion up on 1999.
The UK’s trade surplus on financial services is the largest in the world, well ahead even of Switzerland and the US. The financial sector contributed the equivalent of 5.1 per cent to GDP in 2001, according to IFSL, with half of this generated by companies based in the City. Invisibles are playing an increasingly important role in the UK’s current account balance, contributing a surplus last year of $21.8 billion. The UK is the second biggest exporter of invisibles in the world, having overtaken Japan in 1998. It has 11 per cent of the world market, second only to the US on 21 per cent.
London is biggest wealth creator in Europe
London is the biggest wealth-generating city in Europe, with a gross domestic product of around $223 billion in 2001, according to research by Barclays Private Clients, the wealth management arm of Barclays Bank. It was well ahead of second-placed Paris, on $125 billion, and Milan, on $104 billion. In fact, were London a country, its economy would qualify it as the ninth richest in Europe, larger than the economies of Sweden, Austria, Poland, Norway and Denmark.
The top ten list of European cities was completed by Madrid, Rome, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Barcelona and Stockholm. Other UK cities represented in the survey included Birmingham in the West Midlands, in 12th place with an economy worth just over $50 billion, and Greater Manchester in the North West, in 14th place with $48 billion. The top performer in Scotland was Glasgow, which came in at 39th place overall with a GDP of $17 billion. The Irish capital, Dublin, emerged as a significant economic force, ranking 19th in Europe with a GDP of $35 billion.
In terms of wealth generation per head of population, German cities took the top two positions, with Frankfurt generating a GDP of $64,844 per capita in 2001 and Karlsruhe $61,040. Paris was third with a GDP of $58,519 per head. The figure for London was $30,541, putting it in 23rd place, with Edinburgh in Scotland close behind on $30,493. Dublin’s per capita GDP was $31,864, ranking it 18th overall.
The availability of office space in Central London increased by 15 per cent in the first quarter of 2002 to 17.4 million sq ft, a ratio to stock of 8.5 per cent, reports DTZ Research. However, only 11 per cent of available space is newly built or refurbished accommodation. Take-up has begun to recover, with an increase of 50 per cent over the previous quarter to 3.6 million sq ft. Most of this activity took place in Docklands and the fringe markets. Prime rents in the City fell slightly over the quarter, to $84 per sq ft, while rents in the West End held steady at $101.50 per sq ft.
York and Brighton are best for business
London may be the biggest wealth creator, but the two most profitable places in the UK in which to do business are York, in the north of the country, and Brighton, on the south coast. The two cities came joint first in an annual survey by business information company Dun & Bradstreet, which measured the proportion of profit-making companies in towns and cities which play host to 60 or more businesses. Both scored 85 per cent.
Brighton, a vibrant seaside resort, topped the table two years ago. It has attracted a growing number of media and creative businesses as well as financial services companies. However, this is new territory for York, an historic city which has benefited from good transport links and an increasing reputation for expertise in high technology. It has attracted businesses from a broad spread of sectors and has also gained from its proximity to Leeds, which is poised to overtake Birmingham as the UK’s second largest commercial city after London. The University of York enjoys a high reputation, with 18 of its 23 departments recently achieving top ratings for the quality of their research. Both cities are seen as attractive places to live, with plenty of local attractions and a good quality of life, and both are leading centres for tourism.
Altogether, Dun & Bradstreet’s Key British Enterprises survey examined more than 50,000 companies in 140 towns and cities. It found that overall 73.1 per cent of the UK’s businesses recorded a profit in 2002, 4 per cent fewer than last year. There was a fairly even split between different parts of the country. Close behind York and Brighton came the London borough of Enfield, with 84.8 per cent of its businesses in profit. The rest of the top ten consisted of Exeter (South West, 84 per cent), Romford (Eastern England, 83.6 per cent), Harrogate (Yorkshire and Humber, 81.9 per cent), Weybridge (South East, 81.7 per cent), Grimsby (Yorkshire and Humber, 80.3 per cent), Cheltenham (South West, 79.9 per cent), Blackburn (North West, 79.3 per cent) and Stockport (North West, also 79.3 per cent).
Overseas-owned companies score highly in Queen’s Awards
The prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are made each year to recognise outstanding achievement by companies operating in the UK, and the 2002 crop contained a total of 30 companies that are either owned or partly owned by overseas organisations. The awards are the highest the UK government can confer on a business and are made to the company as a whole, with management and employees working together as a team. Award-winners are allowed to display the Award emblem on their stationery, packaging, advertising and goods for a period of five years. This year there were a total of 131 awards, spread across the categories of International Trade (85 awards), Innovation (37) and Sustainable Development (nine) and embracing a diverse range of business activities.
Twenty of the award-winners originated from North America, with 14 of them in the International Trade category. A further four won the Innovation award, while the only two overseas-owned companies to win awards in the Sustainable Development category were both subsidiaries of US-based organisations. The winners of the International Trade award were: Abbott Laboratories, BL-Pegson (owned by the Terex Corporation), Calcarb Ltd (Inductotherm Industries Inc), CFO Europe, Cummins Engines (Daventry engine plant), The Female Health Company, Holset Engineering (Cummins), Inverness Medical Ltd (Johnson & Johnson), LTV Copperweld Bimetallic UK (LTV Corporation), Markem Technologies, MediSense UK Ltd (Abbott Laboratories), Schrader Electronics (Gates Rubber Company), Nortel Networks (of Canada) and Strix (Sterna Group of Bermuda).
North American winners of the Innovation award were McConnel Ltd (Alamo Group of the US), Holset Engineering Company Ltd (Cummins, US), the oil-tool branch of Cooper Cameron Ltd (Cooper Cameron, US) and SYR Ltd (Scot Young Ltd, Canada). The two US-based winners of the Sustainable Development prize were Interface Europe Ltd (Interface Inc) and The Cumberland Pencil Company, a division of Acco UK Ltd (Fortune Brands).
Five firms owned or partly owned by European companies won awards in the International Trade category. These were Bosch Rexroth Ltd (Robert Bosch of Germany), Cementation Skanska (Skanska AB of Sweden), Group Lotus (Malaysian-owned but based in Luxembourg), the Bristol factory of Kone Service Business Unit (Kone Corporation of Finland) and LIFFE (Holdings) (Euronext NV of the Netherlands). Elekta Oncology Systems Ltd (Elekta AB of Sweden) won an award in the Innovation category.
Asia-Pacific companies also featured, with three awards in International Trade and one in Innovation. International Trade winners were Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker (owned by Mitsubishi Estate Company of Japan), Hoya Lens UK (Hoya Corporation of Japan) and Humax Electronics (Humax Company of South Korea). The Innovation award winner was Fujifilm Electronic Imaging Ltd (Fuji Photo Film Company of Japan).
Manufacturers were, as in previous years, the largest group to be honoured but a campaign was launched this year to target more companies in the service industries, particularly financial services and the City of London. The result was that 34 per cent of the chosen 131 companies had a service sector background, compared with 24 per cent last year and 17 per cent in 1998.
Car output on the increase despite rationalisation
Car production in the UK rose by 16 per cent in the first quarter of 2002, with increased output by manufacturers such as Honda and Toyota more than compensating for the loss of production caused by the closures of Ford’s car assembly line at Dagenham, east London and Vauxhall’s Luton plant in Bedfordshire, Eastern England. In all, production rose to 449,567 vehicles over the first three months of the year.
Honda in particular has stepped up production. The Japanese car-maker, which has spent $630 million on expanding its plant at Swindon, South West England, plans to increase its UK production to 139,000 vehicles this year, from 80,000 in 2001. It began exporting its CRV sports utility model to the US in April and expects to ship up to 60,000 units in the course of the year. Toyota is increasing output at its Burnaston plant, near Derby in the East Midlands, while Nissan is preparing to assemble its latest Micra model at its factory at Sunderland in the North East. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, almost 60 per cent of the cars assembled in the UK are destined for export.
Meanwhile aerospace company Rolls-Royce is to replace its Hillington components plant near Glasgow in Scotland, which dates from the 1940s, with a $119 million greenfield factory elsewhere in Scotland. The company had seriously considered moving production to the Czech Republic but the "skills, commitment and experience" of the Hillington workers persuaded it to stay in Scotland, safeguarding 1,000 jobs. The company was also swayed by a $21 million regional selective assistance grant from the Scottish executive, the biggest since devolution.
The location of the factory has not yet been decided but a shortlist of sites in western Scotland has been drawn up. All current workers will be offered jobs at the new facility. Rolls-Royce plans to invest $49 million in the plant, which will make compressor components for gas turbines used in aviation, defence and energy engines. It is scheduled to go into production by summer 2005.
Software sector draws wide range of investors
Overseas software companies continue to invest in the UK, with a number of new announcements this month cutting across a diverse range of sectors. US company Emptoris of Burlington, Massachusetts, a leading provider of sourcing solutions for Global 5000 companies, has opened a European office in London, as has Vibrant Solutions of Fairfax, Virginia. Vibrant, a pioneer in the cost and revenue management market, has at the same time forged a strategic alliance with UK company Cerebrus Solutions, based in Harlow, Eastern England, a leader in telecoms fraud and revenue enhancement solutions. Also coming to London is South African company Rocketseed, based in Cape Town. The company’s software allows enterprises to insert branding and marketing messages into outgoing e-mails from the corporate mail server.
Quovadx of Englewood, Colorado has opened an office in Wisley, South East England to serve the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) market. The company supplies a business integration software suite that includes consulting, transaction hosting, operations management and outsourcing applications. TTI Telecom International of Israel has opened a research and development centre at Reading, also in South East England. The centre will develop the company’s integrated software solutions for telecom service providers and will also service customers in the region. Meanwhile Vancouver-based Intrinsync Software Inc, a provider of connected intelligent device solutions, has acquired NMI Electronics of Halesowen in the West Midlands. NMI has a 15-year track record and is a gold-level Microsoft Windows Embedded Partner, developing Windows CE-based wireless and smart phone solutions.
New air routes take off as road traffic shows steady growth
Stansted Airport, just north of London, reported a 17 per cent growth in passenger numbers in the 12 months to the end of January, reversing the autumn’s downturn after the terrorist attacks in the US. The airport is the base of low-cost airlines Ryanair, Buzz and Go (which in early May was bought by rival EasyJet), all of which have seen spectacular growth in recent years. The airport currently operates 80 routes but over the summer the three airlines plan to add a further 17, to destinations all over Europe. Meanwhile a new service has been introduced at Humberside International Airport, Yorkshire and Humber, with twice-daily weekday flights to Edinburgh in Scotland.
Total freight moved by GB-registered heavy goods vehicles within Great Britain fell by 0.7 per cent from 150 billion tonne kilometres in 2000 to 149 billion tonne kilometres in 2001, according to figures from the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions. Tonnes lifted fell by 0.8 per cent from 1,593 million tonnes to 1,581 million tonnes. The average length of haul was unchanged, at 94km.
Overall, estimated traffic levels rose by 3 per cent between the first quarter of 2001 and the same quarter of 2002. However, the 2001 figure was affected by the outbreak of foot and mouth disease, and the underlying rate of growth is estimated to be 1-1.5 per cent per year. The total number of licensed vehicles in the country stands at nearly 30 million, 25 million of which are cars. The registered stock rose by between 1 per cent and 4 per cent for most types of vehicle over the year, although motorcycle registrations shot up by 7 per cent. Diesel cars now account for nearly 14 per cent of the total stock of cars, compared with just 4 per cent 10 years ago. The total number of newly registered vehicles in 2001 exceeded 3 million for the first time. More than 80 per cent of these were cars, and around a third of all registrations were made in the peak months of March and September, when new license plates are issued.
Looking to the future, transport minister David Jamieson has launched a scheme that encourages vehicle manufacturers to apply for grants to demonstrate new vehicles running on natural gas. He has also promised to encourage other states in the European Union to develop the natural gas market. "We want to make our towns and cities cleaner and quieter places in which to live and work. We’ve already made good progress in cutting vehicle emissions and noise, but more can be done," he said at May’s Commercial Vehicle show in Birmingham in the West Midlands. Funding will be made available through the Energy Saving Trust’s TransportAction initiative. The Natural Gas Vehicle Association has announced a target for natural gas to replace 10 per cent of the diesel fuel consumed by commercial vehicles by 2010, a target to which Mr Jamieson has given his support.
South Wales acquires engineering centre of excellence
The Welsh Development Agency, with the help of the Welsh Assembly, has purchased the technology laboratories of the steel company Corus at Port Talbot, South Wales. Renamed the Engineering Centre for Manufacturing and Materials (ECM2), the 100,000 sq ft facility will allow companies to lease research and laboratory space, with access to materials analysis and testing services on a pilot plant scale. ECM2 will concentrate on modern manufacturing techniques, materials processing and process control, with particular emphasis on carbon steel, aluminium and stainless steel and components. Corus will continue to occupy half of the centre until the end of the year, but several companies are already negotiating to rent space. Local universities and their industrial partners will also use it for large-scale manufacturing R&D projects.
Elsewhere in South Wales, at Ammanford, Irish-owned Elev8 Solutions has opened a purpose-built call centre that will create 266 jobs over the next two years. The company will provide outsource services for a number of clients and also intends to enter the market for telephone directory enquiries, which the government is planning to deregulate next year. In North Wales, meanwhile, FAUN Municipal Vehicles, owned by the Kirchoff Group of Germany, has opened a new facility at Llangefni in Anglesey. The company employs 112 people at the Bryn Cefni Business Park, where it manufactures a range of waste collection vehicles. It has reported a 50 per cent growth in sales over the past 12 months.
East Midlands showcases its green credentials
IFAT 2002, the world’s premier exhibition for the waste management industry, took place in Munich, Germany on 13-17 May. Representing the UK was the East Midlands Development Agency (emda), which highlighted the environmental expertise of the East Midlands region, where some 12 per cent of the UK’s energy consultants are based. Among the local organisations showcased on emda’s stand were Sherwood Energy Village [see picture], the Derbyshire Nottinghamshire Alliance and the University of Nottingham.
"The work at Sherwood Energy Village, the first large-scale application of urban drainage in the UK, and the Alliance, who have a total commitment to developing the former coalfield area into an example of environmental technology excellence, deserve a worldwide stage," said Catherine Simpson, emda’s European business development manager. Also represented were the Markham Willows Project, which includes a 148-acre coppice providing sustainable fuel, and the Environmental Forum, which represents environment-focused businesses in the region.
Around the regions
Michigan-based Guardian Industries, one of the world’s largest glass-makers, is to invest $166 million to build a new factory at Goole, Yorkshire and Humber. Construction of the plant, which will create 300 new jobs, was aided by a $6.9 million RSA grant from the DTI and $3.8 million from local RDA Yorkshire Forward. Work has already begun, with the first phase of the infrastructure scheduled for completion by May 2003. Production is expected to begin early in 2004. Guardian Industries employs more than 19,000 people worldwide and has a presence in 19 countries on five continents.
The last big site at Peterborough Business Park, in Eastern England, has been acquired by a developer and will be used for 200,000 sq ft of office development. The 15.3 acre-site at Oundle Road is just one minute’s drive from the A1(M) motorway. The first phase of the development will see the construction of office units ranging in size from 1,600 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft, which will be available for sale or rent.
The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, has officially opened global healthcare company SSL International’s new pharmaceutical factory on the Whitehouse Business Park in Peterlee, County Durham in North East England. The 180,000 sq ft factory, developed at a cost of $35 million on a 16-acre site, manufactures a wide range of over-the-counter medicines, including analgesics, antiseptics and cough syrups. It has already created 220 new jobs and is still recruiting as new production comes on stream. SSL International, based in Cheshire, has 17 manufacturing operations in eight countries and commercial offices in 35 countries, employing 8,000 people.
The Humber Trade Zone, the area around the Humber Estuary in North Lincolnshire, is to receive $48 million of regional aid to improve local infrastructure, skills and facilities and to boost inward investment and long-term economic development.
The American Community School in Cobham, Surrey in South East England recently hosted a Career Day that brought 30 professionals from a wide variety of sectors to the school. The career day has now become an established fixture in the school calendar. There are three American Community Schools (ACS) in the Greater London area, offering the American High School Diploma, including the Advanced Placement and Intellectual Baccalaureate, and sending students to universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Tokyo. The newest of the three is ACS Egham, also in Surrey, which was founded in 1995 and this month celebrates its first graduating class. The 16 students in the group are from a wide range of backgrounds, with countries of origin including the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Belgium, Turkey, Yemen, Libya and Egypt.
Regional development agency Advantage West Midlands has purchased 22 acres of a former foundry site at Bromsgrove and will make it available for development as a science park. The proposed development is part of the A38 high technology corridor initiative, which is intended to encourage business modernisation and diversification in an area stretching from Worcestershire to the centre of Birmingham. The high-tech corridor aims to increase networking activity between companies and to build links with higher education and research institutions. It is one of three planned for the region.
Developer Rokeagle has submitted a planning application to build the first phase of a new business village on 6.5 acres of Plymouth International Business Park at Plymouth in South West England. The proposed development will consist of a single two-floor building containing 9,000 sq ft of office space, and would be suitable for companies in the medical, research or education sectors. The same developer plans to build two much larger units of 25,000 sq ft apiece on another site in the park.
Jet Aviation of Switzerland, the world’s largest aircraft management and charter company, has opened a new maintenance, refurbishment and fixed-base operations facility at Biggin Hill in Surrey, south-east of London. The company chose the former World War II fighter base for its proximity to the capital and will service corporate and private jets while clients are in London. It will employ 25 people at the site; worldwide it has more than 3,500 employees in more than 60 locations.
US company Tripos Inc, based in St Louis, Missouri, is to expand its Tripos Receptor Research facility at Bude in Cornwall, South West England, with an investment of $22.5 million. The figure includes a $1.8 million grant from the South West Regional Development Agency and $3.4 million in the shape of a Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The centre uses proprietary information-driven technologies to enhance the design and synthesis of chemical compound libraries. The expansion, which comes in response to the worldwide demand for new drugs, will more than double the size of Tripos’s chemistry laboratories to 65,000 sq ft and will create 146 new jobs. The new lab is expected to be fully operational by early 2004.
A $14 million venture capital fund has been launched for companies in the North West of England. The Rising Stars Growth Fund, managed by Enterprise Ventures, will work with industry, universities and the incubator network in the region to identify investment opportunities. Enterprise Ventures is confident of securing a further $21 million over the next 18 months. Until the fund reaches $35 million the maximum investment will be set at $700,000 although, typically, funding is expected to be in the $70,000-$280,000 range.
Manchester Investment and Development Agency Service (MIDAS) will launch a new website for biotechnology companies in the North West region later this year. The site (at www.biotechmanchester.com) is one of the key business sector mini-sites that form part of MIDAS’ portal website www.manchestercalling.com. The site will contain a guide to biotech expertise, specialist support and research in the region, including case studies of successful companies, business facilities and useful contacts.
Flowserve of Dallas, Texas, one of the world’s leading providers of industrial flow management services, is to acquire the Flow Control Division (IFC) of London-based Invensys for $535 million. Flowserve, which operates in 30 countries, produces pumps for the process industries, precision mechanical seals, automated and manual quarter-turn valves, control valves and valve actuators. It also provides a range of flow management services. IFC is a leading manufacturer of valves, actuators and flow control products.
Leading US law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft of New York has opened new, enlarged offices in London. The 29,000 sq ft premises will more than double the firm’s UK capacity and will provide room for more than 100 lawyers, 10 per cent of its total. The company conducts business in more than 50 countries and its varied client base includes many of the world’s top financial institutions.
Hoover, the domestic appliance manufacturer based in North Canton, Ohio, is to invest a further $2 million in the Floorcare Division of its plant in Cambuslang, Scotland. The investment will enable a new generation of cylinder floor cleaners to be built at the plant, using new assembly methods that will increase productivity.
A new website has been launched to underline the role of the Tayside area of Scotland as a centre for the digital media industries. Interactive Tayside (www.interactivetayside.com) provides a searchable directory of local digital companies, together with a range of business and skills information, news and events aimed at promoting the region’s capabilities worldwide. The initiative, backed by Scottish Enterprise Tayside, is a partnership between the public, private and academic sectors. There are currently more than 200 digital media companies in Tayside, employing 1,500 people and recording an annual turnover of $140 million.
Also in Scotland, the city of Dundee has added a new location guide for potential investors to its website, at www.locate-dundee.co.uk. The guide includes practical information on housing, education, healthcare and quality of life in the ‘City of Discovery’. Dundee is soon to benefit from BT’s expansion of broadband internet services, with one new exchange planned for the city centre and another at Dundee Technology Park.
Kelly Scientific Resources (KSR) of Troy, Michigan, has opened a third office in the UK. The new office in Glasgow, Scotland will join existing branches in London and Manchester. KSR, part of Fortune 500 company Kelly Services, is a leading provider of staff to the scientific business community. The Glasgow office will support Scotland’s flourishing biotechnology industry.
The UK has moved up from eighth to sixth place in an ‘e-government’ league table compiled by management consultancy Accenture. The company surveyed the provision of online government services in 23 countries and found that Canada, Singapore and the US still led the field. However, it warned of a ‘digital divide’ as the distance between the leaders and the rest of the pack continued to widen.
In a first for the US, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) is organising a competition to help a local US company gain access to a business incubator in the UK, with the prize of expanding into the UK and European marketplaces. The FCEDA, based in Vienna, Virginia, promotes Fairfax County as a leading technology centre and business location and has marketing offices in London, Frankfurt and Tokyo.
Marvinbond, a subsidiary of Hong Kong group USI, is to acquire the London-based men’s outfitters Gieves & Hawkes for around $11 million. G & H produces classic and contemporary menswear, casual wear and accessories, and its international division licenses and retails menswear in North America and the Far East.