News
July 2003
UK retains top spot as European investment destination
The UK is still the largest market for inward investment projects into Europe, according to the 2002 European Investment Monitor, compiled by international accountants Ernst & Young. It attracted 19 per cent of all European investment for the year, despite a 5 per cent decline in the overall number of projects, from 388 to 369. London remained the preferred destination among European cities and regions, with a total of 125 projects, an increase of 33 per cent over 2001. The UK capital accounted for 7 per cent of all European investment, up from 5 per cent a year earlier and more than double the share of Paris and Barcelona, its nearest rivals. There were mixed fortunes for regions within the UK, with the South West and Wales seeing inward investment projects increase from 29 in 2001 to 59, while the Midlands saw numbers decline from 66 to 44 and Scotland from 36 to 25.
France remained the second largest European market, with a 13 per cent share, while Paris overtook Catalonia to take second spot in the cities and regions league. Italy and Finland saw large declines in project numbers, with investment falling by 44 per cent and 33 per cent respectively. The only EU country to show a marked increase was Portugal, where inward investment grew by 23 per cent. The fastest-growing countries in percentage terms were Romania, Bulgaria and European Union (EU) accession countries.
Total investment into the EU declined by 11 per cent over the year, with the number of projects falling by 4 per cent, from 1,974 to 1,895. Investment into the 12 eurozone countries fell by 12 per cent, and by 9 per cent into the three non-euro economies (the UK, Denmark and Sweden). The biggest investor remained the US, with 33 per cent of all projects, though this represented a fall of 16 per cent from 2001 and a cumulative fall of 37 per cent since 2000. Investment increased from Japan, China and South Korea, while intra-European investment also rose, particularly from France, Germany and Italy. This now represents 49 per cent of the total, compared with 48 per cent a year ago. The biggest single investor was Robert Bosch AG, followed by Siemens, Toyota and Stora Enso Oy, with longtime leader Ford slipping to fifth place. Ten of the top 20 investors were from the automotive industry.
There were only 20 large-scale projects (creating 1,000 jobs), compared with 36 in 2001 and 45 in 2000. Eleven of these were in Central and Eastern Europe. Manufacturing remains the single largest area of investment activity, accounting for 46 per cent of all projects, compared with 41 per cent in 2001. The UK overtook France as the most popular destination for manufacturing investment, with the number of projects up 14 per cent. The UK also increased its share of the software sector, from 29 per cent to 36 per cent, although France edged ahead in pharmaceuticals, with 19 per cent of investment to the UK’s 17 per cent. In the automotive sector, the Czech Republic overtook both the UK and France to take first place, with an 18 per cent share of the total. Investment in the business services sector fell by 8 per cent, while in electronics it tumbled 27 per cent, in financial services by 43 per cent and in telecoms by 48 per cent.
The biggest change over the past few years, says Ernst & Young, has been the shift of investment outside the EU, to countries such as Russia, Turkey and the Czech Republic, which offer relatively stable economies and flexible working practices. Since 2000, the share of investment into non-EU countries has risen from 20 per cent to 30 per cent. In 2002, investment into such countries shot up by 21 per cent, while in EU accession countries it increased by 14 per cent. Cities such as St Petersburg, Bucharest and Istanbul have made the top-20 list of investment destinations for the first time, replacing the likes of Glasgow, Brussels, Milan and Turin. Further afield, China and India are becoming increasingly attractive investment destinations for many companies.
Although eurozone countries have been gaining ground since the launch of the single currency in 1999, the survey showed little conclusive evidence on the benefits or otherwise of euro membership. "The UK, and London in particular, still continue to punch above their weight in inward investment terms in Europe," said Barry Bright, head of the Location Advisory team for Ernst & Young in the UK. "The issue of euro membership appears to be a bit of a damp squib as far as inward investors into Europe are concerned. Whilst there are undoubted financial benefits for the countries within the single currency, these appear to be counter-balanced in inward investment terms by concerns over reductions in growth rates in major markets, probably in part due to the loss of some independent national economic levers such as interest rates and exchange rates. The recent euro appreciation, if sustained, could exacerbate this."
‘Wait and see’ verdict on euro membership
Chancellor Gordon Brown and Prime Minister Tony Blair presented a largely united front with the announcement on 9 June that the UK was not yet ready to join the single currency, but that the UK government would continue to support the principle of joining. In a statement to Parliament, Mr Brown said that only one of his five key tests on euro membership (relating to the financial services industry) had been passed, and stressed the risk of a housing boom and bust as a principal reason for not joining immediately. Mr Brown insisted that the economic tests could be met and set out a package of reforms that he described as "a clear path ahead". These included aligning the Bank of England’s inflation target with that of the European Central Bank and reforming the UK’s planning system and mortgage market to limit fluctuations in house prices.
Mr Brown promised to review the economic case for joining in his budget next year. However, the decision to leave open the option of a referendum during the current parliament was seen as a defeat for the Treasury, which wanted to rule out such a possibility before the next general election, which is due by June 2006. Mr Blair believes there is still a "distinct and realistic possibility" of a referendum on the issue next year.
Merloni announces UK manufacturing expansion
There is little sign that the delay in joining the euro is deterring manufacturers from investing in the UK. Merloni Elettrodomestici, for example, Europe’s third-largest producer of kitchen appliances, has announced a UK investment programme that is worth $100m over three years. The company is aiming to increase production at its four UK factories (in North Wales, the Midlands, at Peterborough in Eastern England and near Bristol in South West England) by 10-15 per cent by 2005. It will also aim to increase the proportion of its UK output for export to European markets, from 5 per cent to 15 per cent. The expansion will be largely in tumble dryers, refrigerators and washing machines.
The company’s main products carry the Ariston and Indesit brands and last year it also acquired the Hotpoint brand, one of the best-known in the UK white goods business. The UK accounts for around a quarter of Merloni’s total annual revenue, reaching $835 million last year, including imports. Marco Milani, chief executive of the company’s UK operations, said: "If the UK entered the euro, it would make life easier for us at Merloni, by a long way. But if the UK does not become part of the single currency, then this does not make Britain a bad place for us to invest in." Given issues such as labour rates and factory performance, he added, "manufacturing competitiveness in Britain is as good as anywhere else in Europe."
East of England best at attracting investment
The East of England has been recognised by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Invest UK, the government’s inward investment agency, as the best region in the UK for the conversion of inward investment enquiries to successes. Regional development agency Invest East of England has helped to secure 14 company investments over the past 12 months and has handled another 143 project enquiries. The latest figures bring its success rate up to 106 companies over its six years of operation. The RDA won a further accolade from Strategic Direct Investor magazine, being judged Best in Europe for its work in attracting biotechnology projects.
Of the new project enquiries, 43 per cent were from Europe, 35 per cent from North America and 20 per cent from Asia-Pacific. Business and financial services was the biggest sector, accounting for 31 per cent of all enquiries, followed by manufacturing and engineering with 27 per cent and ICT with 24 per cent. Over the year, Invest East of England hosted visits by 61 overseas companies and seven missions to the region, while also making 422 visits to existing overseas investors.
In South Yorkshire, a new organisation has been launched to help deliver a $3 billion European Objective 1 funding programme for the region. Renaissance South Yorkshire (RSY) is a partnership between local RDA Yorkshire Forward, the Objective 1 programme for South Yorkshire and four local authorities. It will be responsible for developing key property sites within the M1, M18 and Dearne Valley Strategic Economic Zones; attracting and managing inward investment; stimulating the growth of priority business clusters, such as advanced manufacturing and metals, bioscience and environmental and energy technologies; developing urban centres; and regenerating the region’s former coalfields.
Invest NI celebrates successful year
Invest Northern Ireland gained commitments from client companies, universities and other economic bodies to spend over $1 billion across a range of activities in the province during the course of 2002/03. The agency itself contributed $230 million in finance, advice and other support programmes. The investments included 258 development projects by existing client companies worth $668 million – one of the highest totals in recent years – and ten new inward investment projects worth $36.7 million.
Among the highlights of its end-of-year statement, Invest NI pointed out it had agreed 316 R&D projects totalling $63.5 million in private sector investment and encouraged 61 companies to undertake first-time R&D or product development projects. It also supported the establishment of 17 Centre of Excellence over the year and assisted 2,141 new business start-ups. This was well ahead of its target of 1,500 and included 101 new high-growth businesses with total investment worth $35.6 million. The agency also exceeded its targets in encouraging existing exporters to enter new markets and in supporting trade missions and related initiatives – 1,400 companies took part in trade events, including 93 first-time exporters and 194 companies exploring new markets. Invest NI also expanded its regional presence by opening three new offices, in Coleraine, Craigavon and Enniskillen.
One of the companies assisted by Invest NI is Randox Laboratories, based at Crumlin, which has announced a $205 million investment programme that is expected to create 810 new jobs over the next three years. The company has four plants in the area engaged in medical R&D and the manufacture of diagnostic products; it has 30,000 clients, mostly hospital laboratories, in 130 countries. The new investment is in next-generation biochip technology that will help doctors to diagnose a wide range of medical conditions, including cancer, heart disease and hormone disorders, more accurately and faster than is currently possible. Using Randox’s new Evidence equipment, hospital labs will be able to do 25 or more simultaneous tests on single samples on a 1cm biochip from 180 patients per hour.
The agency has also helped with backing for a $43.4 million regeneration scheme in West Belfast. The former Mackies complex will be developed into a mixed-use business park offering almost 250,000 sq ft of business and industrial space.
SBS launches online video resource for small businesses
The Small Business Service (SBS), a unit of the DTI, has launched a new website for small and medium-size firms. Building on the CONNECT series of programmes on best business practice for SMEs (previously available as 22 modules on CD-ROM), the website, at www.connectedbestpractice.com, gives firms access to more than 150 ‘real-life’ documentary video case studies covering every area of business, from leadership and finance to marketing and health and safety. It also contains an extensive resource library and self-assessment exercises designed to help boost productivity and performance. The SBS has firm evidence that CONNECT really does help small businesses: of the 16,000 firms that accessed modules last year, 78 per cent reported a positive impact on their business and many pointed to concrete increases in sales and profits. The initiative is also a technological first for the government, being its first portal dedicated to streaming media content.
The European Commission, in the meantime, is to introduce new definitions of medium, small and micro-sized companies as of 1 January 2005. Its definitions will maintain the existing staff thresholds, but will raise financial ceilings to take account of inflation and increases in productivity since 1996, when the terms were first defined. From 2005, a medium-sized company will be defined as one with a headcount of 51-250 employees, with a turnover of up to $57.5 million and a balance sheet total of up to $49.5 million. A small company will have 11-50 staff, with a turnover or balance sheet of up to $11.5 million, while a micro company will have up to 10 employees, with a turnover or balance sheet of up to $2.3 million.
UK rejects EU withholding tax move
The UK government has resisted plans by the European Union to introduce a Europe-wide withholding tax on the savings of non-resident individuals. Instead, EU governments will exchange information on the savings of non-residents so that they can be taxed in their country of residence. Many Europeans take advantage of free movement of capital within the EU to move their savings to low-tax countries, causing large losses of revenue for national governments. The new rules, to be introduced in January 2005, are seen by the EU as a key weapon in curbing fraud, money-laundering and tax evasion. However, after extensive bargaining, only Luxembourg, Austria and Belgium will levy a withholding tax, a measure that Chancellor Gordon Brown believes could have jeopardised the City of London’s position as Europe’s leading financial centre and damaged its bond markets. The US has pledged to exchange information with EU countries when requested and traditional tax havens, such as Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein and the Channel Islands, will also have to exchange information or levy a withholding tax.
The UK, supported by Germany, Ireland and Denmark, has also blocked an EU employment directive aimed at giving the country’s 600,000 temporary workers the same rights and pay as permanent employees. The government argued that the proposed six-week qualifying period was too short, and that the proposal would hamper flexibility in the UK labour market. Employers’ organisation the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) praised the government’s stand, claiming that equal pay and rights for temps would unjustly reward lower-skilled workers and increase bureaucracy. Union leaders, however, condemned the move, and also criticised Treasury plans for greater labour flexibility in preparation for entry to the euro. Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said it was "bad for business and unjust" for temps to be denied protection. Other union leaders fear that preparation for euro entry could mean a weakening of public sector pay bargaining and more determined government opposition to EU moves on job protection.
Toyota and BAE Systems back East Midlands
Japanese car giant Toyota is to create 1,000 new jobs at its plant at Burnaston, near Derby in the East Midlands, as it aims to implement an aggressive European expansion plan a year earlier than scheduled. For the first time, it will add a third shift at the plant to move to 24-hour production, turning out an extra 50,000 Corolla and Avensis models annually and boosting production to 270,000 vehicles by the middle of next year. It also plans to increase production of its Yaris small car at its plant in Valenciennes, France, but will not now build a fourth European production centre (the third is a joint venture with PSA Peugeot CitroÎn, currently under construction in the Czech Republic). The company is aiming to hit its 2005 European sales target of 800,000 one year early, and is working towards an unofficial target of 1.2 million vehicles a year by 2010. Like Merloni Elettrodomestici, Toyota made it clear that, although it would prefer the UK to join the euro, its decision to expand was not affected by the country remaining outside the eurozone. "The decision is not driven by currency factors," said the company. "We have an investment in the UK, it is an important investment and we want to capitalise on it as much as we can."
Another major investment in the East Midlands has been announced by aerospace and defence group BAE Systems, which will put $100 million ($10 million annually for 10 years) into a research and training collaboration with the University of Loughborough. A new facility, the Systems Engineering Innovation Centre (SEIC), will be established to help boost the competitiveness the of the region’s systems engineering sector. BAE will move 35 of its senior scientists to the centre, where they will work with academics from the university. The collaboration will help BAE to build its long-term skills capability, with thousands of its engineers slated to take short courses and MScs over the next 15 years. The university hopes that other companies will send their staff for specialist training and research at the centre, which will also work with the East Midlands arm of UK Manufacturing Advisory, a government-funded body for the manufacturing sector. The announcement follows the move in April by Ford to create a $117 million automotive research centre at nearby Warwick University.
Plans have also been announced for the creation of a $3.3 million Food Technology Centre at North Nottinghamshire College in Worksop. The food and drink sector employs up to 20 per cent of the workforce in the East Midlands and is expanding rapidly. The new centre aims to improve skills and motivation among the workforce and is scheduled to open its doors next spring. Among its facilities will be a simulated production line, a development kitchen, a laboratory and an IT suite for online learning.
West Midlands launches skills initiative
In the West Midlands, a $7.7 million scheme has been launched to strengthen manufacturing skills in the counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. The Skills4Adults project, backed by RDA Advantage West Midlands, will see a network of industrial estate ‘learning zones’ set up and will encourage employers to take an active role in training. The region has many manufacturing and engineering companies, but research has shown that only 61 per cent of local firms have provided any training over the past 12 months.
In Coventry, snack foods firm Mission Foods has won a prestigious export award – the Food From Britain/HSBC Convention English Exporter of the Year award. The company, based at Coventry Business Park, has grown rapidly since starting up three years ago. In 2002 it increased its turnover by 40 per cent, launched 36 new products, set up a new production line and employed an additional 45 workers to take the workforce to over 230. It now supplies its wraps and tortilla chip products to all of the UK’s major supermarket chains and manufactures products exclusively for a number of leading food brands. Its expansion has seen it venture into new markets in Italy and Scandinavia.
Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus has taken 12,250 sq ft of space at Swallow Gate business park in the north of Coventry, joining Danish company Abena UK, which moved there at the start of the year. One unit of 23,250 sq ft is still available at the site, and work has begun on a second phase involving three units of 6,000 sq ft apiece. Swallow Gate is well connected, being close to junction 3 of the M6 motorway. Units ranging from 250 sq ft to 12,000 sq ft are also still available at the University of Warwick Science Park. The premises are designed for R&D purposes and include a fully equipped laboratory.
Liverpool is named European Capital of Culture for 2008
Liverpool, in the North West of England, has been chosen as European Capital of Culture for 2008. The city was selected from a shortlist of six; in all, 12 cities around the UK bid for the honour in a year-long process. The Cities of Culture programme has been running since 1985, with cities selected from EU member states and ratified by the Council of Ministers. From 2005, the EU will run a series of European Capitals of Culture, with different member countries allocated years up until 2019. Liverpool’s name has now gone forward to the EU for ratification. Its defeated rivals – Bristol, Birmingham, Oxford, Newcastle-Gateshead and Cardiff – will be given the status of Centres of Culture, which could help them secure UK lottery and European funding.
Winning the nomination is likely to bring an economic boost to Liverpool and the surrounding region. "The North West is rightly proud of what the City of Liverpool has achieved. This is not the beginning of Liverpool’s renaissance, it is recognition of what the city has already delivered," said Bryan Gray, chairman of the North West Development Agency (NWDA). "The economic benefits of today’s announcement are considerable. An extra 1.7 million visitors will result in tourism contributing in excess of $1 billion to Liverpool’s economy. This is not just fantastic news for Merseyside, the benefits will be felt across the North West and beyond." Winning the bid could lead to the creation of up to 14,000 new jobs, Liverpool’s backers believe. The last UK city to hold the title of European City of Culture, Glasgow in 1990, benefited from an urban renaissance that helped it throw off its somewhat grim post-industrial image.
Liverpool has suffered from post-industrial decline but has seen much regeneration in recent years, driven largely by waterfront development along the River Mersey. Its most famous cultural links are with the Beatles, who lived and performed in the city, but it also boasts the Tate Liverpool gallery of modern art, two cathedrals, much imposing architecture (including the famous Albert Dock) and a thriving nightlife. February saw the opening of FACT (Film, Art, Creative Technology), the UK’s only exhibition and performance space specialising in film, video and digital art. In September 2002, the city hosted the second Liverpool Biennial, the UK’s largest visual arts festival, which attracted 19,000 visitors. An ambitious eight-year, $3.3 billion regeneration plan now centres on tourism, culture and the creative industries, involving extensive city centre regeneration and the construction of a new arena and exhibition venue.
Pharmaceutical firms invest in Liverpool
Liverpool is already set to benefit from increased investment, with an announcement by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, the third largest drugs company in the US, that it is to invest a further $46 million in its biotechnology manufacturing plant in the city. The plant at Speke, one of the UK’s largest bulk biotechnology plants, will increase its production capacity of Humatrope, a product used to treat growth hormone deficiency, creating around 25 new jobs. The investment is part of $74 million to be spent at the Speke plant over the next four years, under a $360 programme that will also see the Indianapolis-based corporation increase its commitment to its other UK operations. This includes $65 million to create a European Centre for Excellence in Neuroscience Research at Erl Wood in Windlesham in Surrey, South East England, a project that will employ at least 120 scientists over the next five years. The company will also invest a further $117 million by 2006 in its facilities at nearby Basingstoke.
Another pharmaceuticals firm, the UK-based Powderject, one of the world’s leading vaccine companies, has announced a $142 million investment programme at its facilities in Liverpool. The company, based in Oxford in South East England, will increase its capacity in both primary and secondary manufacture over the next five years, particularly of its flu and travel vaccines. Recognising the importance of the investment for the North West’s growing biotechnology sector, the NWDA will contribute $33 million towards the programme. The site, also at Speke, has already received some $117 million in investment over the past five years.
Manchester takes the lead in shared services
Elsewhere in the North West, the city of Manchester – Liverpool’s biggest rival – has secured the position of second most popular city in Europe for businesses looking to develop shared services operations. The Manchester area has an 8 per cent share of the total European shared services sector, behind Dublin which still tops the table with 20 per cent. Recent arrivals in the city include Michelin and Marks & Spencer, which have chosen Manchester for their new pan-European shared services centres. In May, the city hosted a four-day international shared services conference, which attracted delegates from all over the world. The event is usually held in London but this year was moved to Manchester in recognition of the city’s strength in the sector.
MIDAS (Manchester Investment and Development Agency Service) assisted more than 30 companies to invest in the Manchester area in 2002/03, bringing in $52 million in new business, and creating 1,200 new jobs and safeguarding 271 others. The group, which covers the local authority areas of Manchester, Trafford, Salford and Tameside, exceeded its own target for the year by 70 per cent. It also reports a 250-300 per cent increase in traffic on its website (www.manchestercalling.com) and has developed additional sites for specific sectors, including customer contact centres, biotechnology and the digital sector.
Investment shows no sign of letting up in the new financial year. Great Lakes Chemical Corporation of Indianapolis, for example, has recently announced an $8.4 million investment at its Manchester-based UK subsidiary, Great Lakes Manufacturing (UK) Ltd. The facility manufactures flame retardants used in televisions, computers, cars and other plastic products. The new investment, which brings the company’s total to $38.4 million in the last five years, will allow it to increase its production capacity by 30 per cent.
Manchester has also edged ahead of London as the UK’s most creative city, according to a report from think-tank Demos. Using criteria based in part on ethnic and sexual diversity, the Boho Britain Creativity Index puts Manchester in first position, followed by London and Leicester in the East Midlands in joint second and Nottingham (also in the East Midlands) in fourth. According to the survey, Manchester also had the highest number of patent applications per head, followed by Bristol in the South West and Aberdeen in Scotland.
Dutch pipeline specialist eyes expansion in Barnsley
Dutch-owned multinational A.Hak Industrial Services Ltd has moved to a new 5,000 sq ft industrial unit on the Park Springs strategic employment site at Grimethorpe, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. The company, which specialises in pipeline inspection and maintenance services for the oil and gas industries, currently employs 18 people in the UK and plans to double its workforce within five years. It has clients all over the UK and one of the reasons for choosing Park Springs was the site’s easy access to the M1 and A1 highways. The picture shows a pipeline equipment demonstration on the company’s customer opening day. Left to right: A.Hak’s Inspection Supervisor Ken Gibson, engineer Steve Sutton, Interim Manager Willem Zuidema, David Hope of RDA Yorkshire Forward and John Penney, chief executive of the Barnsley Development Agency.
Pipeline equipment demonstration at A.Hak's customer opening day.
Also in Barnsley, work is due to start in the autumn on 42,000 sq ft of industrial and office units at Wharncliffe Business Park at Athersley. Developer Priority Sites Ltd, a joint venture between the Royal Bank of Scotland and government regeneration agency English Partnerships, will build a number of units on the site of a former colliery, following land reclamation work by Yorkshire Forward.
Green light for west coast rail upgrade
The Strategic Rail Authority has given the go-ahead for the upgrade of the west coast main railway line, which runs from London Euston to Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland. The long-awaited announcement should mean the introduction of faster, tilting trains, leading to shorter journey times. Modernisation of the line has repeatedly been delayed, as much of the track needs replacing and estimated costs have spiralled. It is now expected that work will be completed by 2008, three years later than originally planned, and at a total cost of $16.5 billion, several times the original budget.
Despite initial plans to run trains at 140mph, the speed limit will be restricted to 125mph for at least several years. Faster trains would require a new signalling network, and this is still at the test stage. The SRA has said that other large-scale projects will have to be scaled back or put on hold to concentrate scarce resources on the west coast line. Among those to be reduced in scope are an upgrade of the east coast main line between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh and a link from Southampton on the south coast to the west coast line. Projects on hold include the London Crossrail project, an east-west expansion of lines through the capital, which is still at the planning stage.
Freight traffic through the UK’s ports fell slightly in 2002, down 1 per cent from 566 million tonnes in 2001 to 558 Mt. Most of the shortfall was in inwards traffic, which fell by 8 Mt to 320 MT, while outwards traffic remained virtually unchanged at 238 Mt. Traffic through the UK’s 52 major ports reached 542 Mt, down 8 Mt, accounting for 97 per cent of the total. Grimsby and Immingham maintained its position as the UK’s leading port, with 56.1 Mt, 1.3 Mt up on 2001, followed by London with 51.2 Mt, 0.5 Mt more. The rest of the top ten was made up of Tees and Hartlepool (50.4 Mt), Forth (42 Mt), Milford Haven (34.5 Mt), Southampton (34.1 Mt), Liverpool (30.4 Mt), Sullom Voe (29.4 Mt), Felixstowe (25.1 Mt) and Dover (20 Mt).
The number of road goods vehicles travelling to mainland Europe, meanwhile, fell by 1 per cent in the first quarter of 2003, but was still 4 per cent higher than in the first quarter of 2002. The total number of 649,300 included 460,800 powered vehicles, of which 27 per cent were UK-registered. Vehicles registered in the UK carried 6.1 million tonnes of goods out of the country in 2002, a decline of 5 per cent from 2001, and 7.2 million tonnes into the country, a fall of 3 per cent.
Around the regions
United Technologies Corporation (UTC), based in Hartford, Connecticut, has made a $1 billion offer for London-based Chubb, a leading provider of electronic security systems and fire protection products and services. Chubb employs 48,000 people and has more than 1 million customers worldwide. UTC is a diversified company that provides high-technology products to the building systems and aerospace industries; its companies include Otis, Carrier, Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Sundstrand, Sikorsky and UTC Power. The all-cash deal has been unanimously approved by both boards of directors.
Allied Irish Bank (GB), a wholly owned subsidiary of Allied Irish Banks (AIB), Ireland’s leading banking and financial services organisation, plans to open a number of new business branches in the UK as part of a major expansion drive. AIB currently has 40 offices in the UK, with new ones opened recently in Bromley in Greater London, Guildford, Reading and Milton Keynes in South East England and Chelmsford in Eastern England. More new branches will be announced shortly, as the bank aims to dramatically increase its presence in the UK and double turnover within three years.
Swedish bank Svenska Handelsbanken has opened a new branch in the Welsh capital, Cardiff, its first in Wales and its ninth in the UK overall. The branch will offer a full range of banking services to individual and corporate customers, together with internet account access and a telephone banking service. Meanwhile, FBN Bank (UK), a subsidiary of First Bank of Nigeria, has been launched as the first Nigerian bank licensed to operate in the City of London.
US defence contractor EDO Corp, headquartered in New York, has acquired the Emblem Group, based in Brighton on the south coast of England, for $25.5 million. Emblem produces a range of aerospace and defence electronics and rugged computers, specialising in aircraft weapons carriage and interfacing systems. Its expertise will complement EDO’s specialism in aircraft armaments release systems.
Pittsburgh Simulation Corporation (PSC), based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is planning to set up a European headquarters in Dundee, Scotland to handle sales, marketing and application engineering. The new base will include a System Centre which will act as a hub for simulation and demonstration services for semiconductor design customers in Europe and further afield, and will eventually employ 15 people. PSC is yet to finalise details of the scheme, but cites the presence of the Alba Centre in Livingston as a key factor in its decision to locate in Dundee.
US aerospace company Goodrich Corporation, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is to set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Prestwick International Aerospace Park in Ayrshire, Scotland. The 120,000 sq ft facility, which will cost $14 million, is scheduled to be operational by June 2004. It will initially create 100 new jobs, with the workforce rising eventually to 250. Goodrich already has a similar facility at Glasgow Prestwick International Airport.
Japanese-owned automotive firm Keihin Europe Scotland has opened a new $4.7 million manufacturing facility at Hamilton Technology Park in Scotland, following a selection process that saw stiff competition from locations outside the UK. The firm manufactures electronic controls for fuel systems, primarily for Honda cars, and first set up in Scotland in 2001.
The North Science and Technology Application Resource (NorthSTAR), the North East’s leading technology-based development organisation, has decided to locate its headquarters within the Knowledge Campus at Gateshead Quays. The organisation will be based in the Sentinel Building, an innovation hub planned for completion by autumn 2004, which will be located near cultural landmarks such as the Gateshead Millennium Bridge and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
RDA Advantage West Midlands has announced investment of $192 million in three key regeneration projects in the city of Birmingham. Work on a redevelopment scheme for The Fort area is due to begin in the autumn, with completion scheduled for 2005. Some $117 million of investment has been set aside for the second phase of the Eastside development, which will include a Learning and Leisure Quarter and a Technology Park. Meanwhile, 40 acres of land has been acquired at Longbridge and earmarked as the site of a new Regional Centre for Microsystems. Taken together, the three schemes are expected to create more than 13,000 jobs.
Hunter Douglas, based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, has acquired Thomas Sanderson Blinds of Southampton, South East England, one of its longstanding customers. Thomas Sanderson specialises in awnings and pleated blinds and conservatories for the UK and Ireland and has 226 employees. Its management will remain unchanged. The Hunter Douglas group is a world leader in window coverings, with 153 companies in more than 100 countries.
Netcracker Technology, of Waltham, Massachusetts, a provider of OSS and IT infrastructure management solutions, has opened a full-service office in Basingstoke in Hampshire, South East England.
Spanish-owned tile and kitchen company Porcelanosa has purchased a one-acre plot of land at Dukesmead, Werrington in Peterborough, Eastern England, where it will build a new 20,000 sq ft retail warehouse. The warehouse, which is in addition to a 52,500 sq ft purpose-built headquarters and showroom that the company opened in the town last year, will be used to store a new range of kitchens to be marketed to national building companies. Porcelanosa, which has seen rapid growth over the past year, employs 70 people in the UK, 43 of them in Peterborough.
The Greater Peterborough Investment Agency (GPIA) reports that 40 companies moved into new premises in the Greater Peterborough area during the 12 months to March 2003, compared with 32 in 2001/02. This was the highest number for a decade. In the same period, GPIA handled 255 enquiries about relocation or expansion, marking a strong recovery from the figure of 192 in the previous year. The agency has invested more than $1.7 million over the past four years in its ‘Positively Peterborough’ campaign, which is aimed at attracting companies to the Eastern England town.
Work has started on the UK’s tallest wind turbine, near Swaffham in Norfolk, East of England. The turbine, built by environmental energy company Ecotricity, will have 111ft blades and will stand 70ft higher than Nelson’s Column, the famous London landmark. Together with another 200ft turbine, which stands in the grounds of the EcoTech Centre, an educational centre devoted to sustainability, the new facility will be capable of providing 75 per cent of the power required by Swaffham’s 2,300 homes.
The growth of the sustainable energy industry has also seen the reopening of the Arnish fabrication yard in Stornoway, Scotland. The yard, owned by Cambrian Engineering but mothballed for the past five years, will build generator towers for the Crystal Rig project, part of the Scroby Sands scheme. Located 3km off the coast of Great Yarmouth in Eastern England, Scroby Sands will be the largest offshore wind farm in the UK, consisting of 30 turbines capable of providing power for 41,000 homes.
The South West RDA has acquired the Trevol Business Park at Torpoint in South East Cornwall, where it intends to build two new factories and three new workshops. It will invest $6.3 million in the 20-acre site, including infrastructure improvements, and hopes to create up to 60 new jobs. The new buildings will feature a range of environmentally advanced features, including low-energy technology and a rainwater recovery system.
The Number, the UK subsidiary of global directory assistance company InfoNXX, based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is to open a second call centre in Plymouth, South West England. Recruitment has begun for an initial 300 jobs at the centre, where the workforce is expected to grow to 600 over the next year. In total, the company is investing $48 million in its new UK directory enquiry service, which uses the number 118 118. Recruitment for 700 jobs at its first call centre in Cardiff, Wales is expected to be completed within three months.
Also in Plymouth, German company X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries has installed new equipment to boost production at its UK facility. Erfurt-based X-FAB is a mixed-signal foundry with operations in the UK, Germany and the US. Capacity at its Plymouth base will be expanded in two stages to a total of 1,550 eight-inch semiconductor wafers per week, about three times its current level.
The Bally Gaming and Systems business unit of Las Vegas-based corporation Alliance Gaming has acquired Honeyframe Software Development of Telford in the West Midlands. Honeyframe provides software and hardware solutions to gaming machine manufacturers in the UK and Europe. Alliance Gaming designs and manufactures advanced gaming devices and systems, supplying customers worldwide.
Cendant Europe, a subsidiary of the hotel division of Cendant Corporation of New Jersey, has opened a new Days Hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The $19 million development is the largest hotel in Northern Ireland, with 244 bedrooms, a restaurant, bar and a conference and meeting centre with eight meeting rooms. It is also the largest of the 25 Days-branded hotels in the UK; a further nine are scheduled to open this year.
Meanwhile, Dublin-based Jurys Doyle Hotel Group has announced plans to build a new hotel in Southampton, South East England. The 12-storey Jurys Inn, representing an investment of $31 million, will have 257 bedrooms, a restaurant, bar and coffee shop and around 32,275 sq ft of dedicated meeting rooms. It is scheduled to open in early 2005 and will bring the number of Jurys Inns in the UK and Ireland to 18.
Icelandic retail group Baugur has acquired Hamley’s, the world-famous toy retailer based on London’s Regent Street, for about $77 million. Baugur sees the acquisition as an important step in its international expansion strategy, particularly in strengthening its retail interests in the UK.