News
August 2003
Inward investment holds up against backdrop of global uncertainty
The UK attracted 709 inward investment projects from 35 countries in the course of 2002-2003, creating 34,396 jobs, according to government inward investment body Invest.UK. The agency, run jointly by the Foreign Office and the Department of Trade and Industry, pointed out in its annual Performance Review that the total was 7 per cent down on the previous year’s figure of 764. However, this had to be seen against a background of continuing global uncertainty, in a period in which global flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) fell a further 20 per cent, to just 40 per cent of the level seen in 2000.
Of the projects recorded, 548 were new projects or expansions, excluding mergers and acquisitions. The level of new investment would seem to contradict fears that the UK’s continuing non-membership of the euro is damaging its prospects for inward investment. Indeed, a recent survey by international accountancy firm Ernst & Young shows that the UK has retained its position as the leading inward investment destination in Europe, claiming 19 per cent of all FDI in the past year.
The US remains the largest single investor, accounting for 40 per cent of all projects and 50 per cent of the jobs created. The number of investments from emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region increased last year, compensating for sluggish growth among European investors.
By sector, knowledge-based industries led the way, despite the continued downturn in the information and communications industries. Growth in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology made up for a fall in spending on software and electronics. The UK remains a top destination for high-value research and development, and a rise in the average salary paid to workers at overseas-invested firms suggests that the government’s strategy of attracting ‘high-quality’ investment is paying off.
Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said that overall the figures were to be welcomed. "Britain is an excellent place to do business," she said. "We have the lowest inflation for 30 years, the lowest interest rates in 40 years and the highest employment ever, and our economy - unique in the G7 - has avoided recession."
William Pedder, chief executive of Invest.UK, commented: "The volume of new start-ups at 314 is still at the record levels of 2001 and the number of expansions has held firm. The fall of 33 per cent in mergers and acquisitions - reflecting the global trend - had the effect of reducing total project numbers compared with last year."
Bank of England cuts interest rates to lowest level in 48 years
The new Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, immediately made his mark by cutting interest rates by 0.25 per cent to 3.5 per cent, the lowest since 1955. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said that the cut was prompted by slow economic growth, both in the UK and overseas. Business groups welcomed the move. David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, commented that Mr King, who takes over from outgoing Governor Sir Edward George, had "started on the right foot". The cut leaves the Bank's main interest rate 1.5 percentage points above the main rate of the European Central Bank, which decided to leave its own rates unchanged.
The underlying rate of inflation also fell unexpectedly in June, dropping from 2.9 per cent to 2.8 per cent. The headline rate, which includes mortgage payments, fell from 3.0 per cent to 2.9 per cent. The falling cost of foreign holidays and a cooling of the housing market were factors that contributed to the fall, although these were partly offset by a rise in motoring costs, particularly car insurance.
Communications deregulation bill finally passed
The government’s Communications Bill, which allows deregulation of the UK’s media industry, has finally received Royal Assent and passed into law. The bill has been dogged by controversy, and has undergone more than two and a half years of parliamentary scrutiny and more than 500 amendments. A threatened rebellion by the House of Lords meant that some provisions were either modified or watered down to secure the passage of the bill before the parliamentary summer recess.
The main provisions of the bill lift restrictions on foreign ownership of UK media assets, create a combined ‘super-regulator’ for the media and communications industries and allow further consolidation of commercial television networks into a single company. The new law was expected at one stage to encourage a wave of consolidation within the industry, but financial constraints and concerns about competition law mean that is largely yet to materialise.
Darling announces $11 billion road improvement package
Transport Secretary Alastair Darling has announced an $11.2 billion package of road improvement measures designed to ease congestion on some of the UK’s busiest roads. The package includes a a major programme of motorway and trunk road widening and the introduction of traffic management measures, including the use of motorway hard shoulders at peak periods. The emphasis is on increasing the capacity of existing roads rather than building new ones, but the package represents the biggest road investment programme since Labour came to power in 1997.
Among the transport corridors to be upgraded is the M25 London orbital motorway. Most of its remaining three-lane sections will be widened to four lanes over the next decade, using $2.7 billion of investment. The M1 motorway will be widened to four lanes in each direction between the M25 and the town of Milton Keynes, and the M11 London-Cambridge motorway between junctions 8 and 9 to three lanes. There will be capacity improvements to a number of major routes in South and West Yorkshire, at a cost of $1.9 billion, and improvements also to the M60 in the Manchester area. The A12 corridor, running from the M25 to Chelmsford in Eastern England, will be upgraded to three lanes in either direction, and there will be a new strategic link between the M54 and the soon to be completed M6 toll road north of Birmingham in the West Midlands.
Go-ahead given for upgrades to rail services
At the same time, Mr Darling announced improvements to the national rail network and to local transport services. He allocated $1.6 billion for major public transport and road improvements in the West Midlands conurbation, including light rail and bus schemes. Local authorities in the Thames Valley and other areas are also being encouraged to develop proposals for long-distance coach and bus services, park-and-ride schemes and transport interchanges. This is partly in response to the 22 Multi-Modal Studies initiated around the country, 19 of which have now reported their findings.
In London, management of the Tube network has been transferred from the London Regional Transport to the new body, Transport for London, under the control of the Mayor of London. The move is part of the government’s Public Private Partnership programme, under which two private consortia, Tube Lines and Metronet, have taken over responsibility for maintaining and improving infrastructure on the capital’s underground lines. London Underground remains publicly owned and responsible for overall safety on the network. Under the PPP, the government expects some $26 billion to be spent on the network over the next 15 years.
Approval has been given for an extension of the East London Line, which is expected to unlock potential for major new developments along the eastern fringe of the City of London. Costed at $2.4 billion, the project will be the second largest rail project in the UK, eclipsed only by the proposed $15.8 billion upgrade of the West Coast main line from London to Scotland.
The project is based on a little-used part of the Tube network and will incorporate new and relaid overground track, linking Islington in north London with the east of the capital, with branches running to Croydon in the south and Clapham Junction in the south-west. Nine London boroughs will benefit from the scheme, with new stations and commercial and housing developments expected, together with sporting and leisure developments that will support London’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Central to the scheme is a new station at Whitechapel, which could also serve as an interchange for the proposed east-west Crossrail scheme. Mr Darling has given his backing to the long-discussed project, and has set up an expert team to examine the feasibility of current proposals.
If built, Crossrail will consist of a tunnel between the central stations of Paddington in the west and Liverpool Street in the east, with two branch lines at either end extending into the suburbs. The eastern branches would serve the Thames Gateway area, running to Stratford, Shenfield and Ebbsfleet, while the western branches would serve Richmond, Kingston and Heathrow Airport. The company behind the project, Cross London Rail Links, estimates its cost at $16 billion in 2002 prices.
In the meantime, airports operator BAA is to invest $48 million in a new rail service that will link Paddington Station and Heathrow Airport with the west London suburbs of Ealing, Southall and Hayes. The service will also connect with London Underground’s Central and District Lines at Ealing Broadway and will provide connections for 4 million people living in the Thames Valley area. The non-stop Heathrow Express service, launched in 1998, already links the airport with Paddington, but the new service will widen access ahead of the 2008 opening of the first phase of Terminal Five. BAA plans to start running the train service in 2004, in partnership with the eventual winner of the 2004/06 Thames Train franchise.
LSE and Duke offer joint corporate management programme
The London School of Economics and Political Science is launching a joint venture with US business school Duke to develop corporate management education programmes. Enterprise LSE and Duke Corporate Education, the commercial arms of the two universities, will develop custom programmes to meet the needs of individual companies. This type of programme is the fastest growing segment of the short-course market. Duke CE ranked best in the world as a custom programme provider in a May 2003 survey by the Financial Times.
The joint venture will combine business school thinking in areas such as finance and marketing with a social science base. The LSE already runs an executive MBA programme with the Stern School of Business at New York University and HEC, the leading business school in Paris. It is not to be confused with the London Business School (LBS), the UK’s leading business school and one of the top ten in the world. That institution has a tie-up with the Columbia Business School in New York, offering both short courses and an executive MBA programme.
Employees set to get a better deal
The government is to introduce new European legislation that will oblige employers to consult with their workers on key management decisions, such as work organisation or redundancies. The information and consultation directive will come into force from 2005 for companies with at least 150 employees and from 2008 for those with at least 50. Directors who fail to consult with employees will face fines of up to $120,000. The Confederation of British Industry wrung a number of concessions from the government on the legislation, including an upper limit on fines and a condition that 10 per cent of the workforce must support the scheme before managers are obliged to introduce it. The new employment relations minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, has underlined his commitment to maintaining Britain's ‘flexible’ labour market.
From 1 August, the EU Working Time Directive, which stipulates a maximum working week of 48 hours, will be extended to cover a further 770,000 employees in the UK. Workers previously excluded, including junior doctors and transport and offshore workers, will be entitled to shorter working weeks, an eight-hour limit on night working and longer rest breaks and holidays. A new law is also to oblige employers to give back-pay to ex-employees who have received less than the national minimum wage. A loophole meant that employees who had left a company since August 2002 could not claim back pay in the same way as those who had remained with the company. The minimum wage is currently $5.80 an hour for workers aged 18-21 and $6.70 for those aged over 21. These figures are set to rise in October, to $6.00 and $7.20 respectively.
Biotech sector set to drive rapid growth in East of England
The East of England is predicted to be the fastest growing region of the UK this year, according to business analyst Experian. The region has a broad business base, and sectors such as banking, insurance and business services are set for particularly healthy expansion. Up to 10,000 new jobs are expected to be created over the year, and Experian predicts that economic growth will continue through 2004, with an increase in output for both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.
One particularly healthy industry is the biotechnology sector, centred on Cambridge. The Cambridge cluster saw 11 new biotech companies set up last year, and each year attracts between a third and a half of all UK investment in the sector - $80 million in 2002. Cambridge’s 180 biotech companies employ 10,000 people and currently have 61 different products in clinical or pre-clinical trials - both figures three times as large as the city’s nearest European rival, Munich in Germany. Industry leaders predict more rapid growth for the sector over the next 10-15 years, centred on world-leading facilities such as Cambridge University, Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Welcome Trust’s Genome Campus.
|
One new arrival is Beacon Bioscience, a leading medical imaging company from the US, which has chosen the St John’s Innovation Centre in Cambridge as the location for its new UK office. The company offers informatics based on medical imaging and accelerated product development for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. Its president, Richard Gastineau, said Cambridge was chosen because of its global reputation as a centre of biotech excellence. |
From left: Jeanette Walker, Business Development Director ERBI; Ted Gastineau, CEO Beacon Biosciences; Walter Herriot, MD St John's Innovation Centre and Richard Gastineau, President and General Counsel of Beacon Biosciences. |
In the communications sector, BestNet Communications of Grand Rapids, Michigan has opened a European sales and customer support office in Cambridge. The company provides services in long-distance satellite calling, conference calling and e-commerce communication, which are accessed via the internet and delivered via standard telephone connections. Also in the region, New York-based software company RSoft Design Group Inc has set up its first European office at Halstead in Essex. RSoft Design Europe aims to expand sales of the company’s component design tools throughout the European Union, and will also offer technical support.
Toyota to export UK-built cars to Japan
Toyota’s plant at Burnaston in Derbyshire, East Midlands is set to export British-built cars to Japan. The plant, set up in 1990 with an initial target of 100,000 cars a year for the European market, plans to hit a new production peak of 200,000 Avensis and Corolla models this year. Of these, some 20,000 Avensis family cars and estates will be shipped to the motor giant’s home country.
Toyota’s workforce in the UK has grown from an initial 100 to nearly 5,000, including 600 at its engine plant in Deeside, North Wales. Around 20 per cent of the company’s output is sold within the UK, 75 per cent is exported to Europe, and 5 per cent to the rest of the world. The company offers the widest product range in the UK, with 17 different models on offer through a dedicated network of 252 dealers, which handle both Toyota and Lexus vehicles.
In the second quarter of next year, the company intends to take another step forward with a move to three-shift working. This is expected to boost annual output to 270,000 cars a year, and 1,000 new workers are being recruited to accommodate the expansion. The Deeside plant has grown from an initial output of 150,000 engines a year to close on 450,000; as well as serving Burnaston, these are exported to Toyota plants in Turkey, South Africa and France.
East Midlands sees development race ahead
The East Midlands Development Agency (emda) reports a highly successful year for 2002/03, during which it helped to safeguard 1,900 inward investment jobs, a three-fold increase on 2001/02. It also helped to create a further 1,200 jobs at foreign-invested companies, a rise of 140 per cent on the previous year. Among the highlights were 150 new jobs created at snack foods manufacturer Walkers (owned by PepsiCo) in Leicestershire; 450 jobs safeguarded at Mercedes Illmor in Northamptonshire; and 195 jobs safeguarded at Moeller Manufacturing and a further 87 created at Meridian Technologies in Nottinghamshire. In all, the agency helped to attract nearly $50 million in overseas investment to the region over the course of the year.
emda is also the lead Regional Development Agency (RDA) for the UK’s world-beating motor sports industry, which has just received $26 million in new government funding. The cash injection is designed to boost development in a range of activities, from engineering to Formula One racing, and will also enable support to companies through a business advice unit. The industry, which has an annual turnover of $7.4 billion, is centred on a ‘motor sports valley’ stretching across the East and West Midlands and the South East and East of England. The area includes a number of internationally renowned motor racing venues, such as Donington Park, Rockingham and Silverstone.
The agency is also planning to increase its own presence overseas, in partnership with its sister agency Advantage West Midlands. Under the banner ‘British Midlands’, the two agencies already have three joint offices in the US - in Boston, Chicago and San Jose - and others in Australia and Singapore. Now they are planning to strengthen their presence in North America by establishing new offices in Washington DC and Toronto, while emda on its own is planning to set up a European office to cover the Benelux countries.
Yorkshire and Humber seeks to build business clusters
More than 10,800 jobs were created or safeguarded and 800 new businesses established in the Yorkshire and Humber region last year, according to RDA Yorkshire Forward in its annual report. The agency met or exceeded all of its targets for the year. Among the highlights were a $16 million investment in the region’s Advanced Metals Technology Initiative, which safeguarded more than 700 jobs and generated $80 million of new business; the completion of Sherburn Business Park near Selby, with the redevelopment of nearly 100 acres of brownfield land and the creation of more than 500 new jobs; and the investment of $118 million over three years to improve skills training programmes.
The agency is also behind a new initiative to help business exploit the research carried out at the region’s universities, and has invested $17.6 million to set up a network of Centres of Industrial Collaboration (CIC). Yorkshire and Humber’s universities spend $400 million a year on research, more than any other region outside London and the South East, and have produced more spin-out companies than any other region. The CICs, which began work at the beginning of July, will seek commercial uses for research ranging from bio-materials and tissue engineering to polymers and green chemistry. Each will have a commercial manager who will proactively sell R&D expertise to business, targeting in particular the region’s key clusters of advanced engineering and metals, chemicals, biosciences, digital industries and food and drink.
|
|
The Yorkshire and Humber region offers plenty of opportunity for companies in search of new business premises, particularly in the South Yorkshire area. For example, work has just begun on a 67,000 sq ft industrial property at Fields End Business Park, in the Dearne Valley Enterprise Zone near Barnsley. The $6.4 million Midas development, the largest speculative industrial scheme within the zone, is due for completion by the middle of December. It has good transport links, and occupiers will be exempted from uniform business rates until November 2005. |
At nearby Rotherham, more than $240 million of public and private sector investment has been poured into the Templeborough development zone, along a two-mile stretch of the A6178 Sheffield Road. The latest schemes are three speculative developments in the New York Riverside regeneration scheme. Genesis is a $4.8 million, 34,200 sq ft project comprising eight business units, starting at 3,000 sq ft. The units, aimed at high-tech companies, provide combined office and assembly space and will be available from September.
Aspen is a $9.4 million, 99,350 sq ft industrial and distribution centre at Centurion Business Park, next to Toyoda Gosei’s car components facility. It is being built in two phases, with units ranging in size from 1,554 sq ft to 40,000 sq ft; the first 54,000 sq ft will be available in the late autumn. Finally, the Point at Bradmarsh is an $8 million office complex set on a three-acre site at Bradmarsh Business Park. It offers space ranging in size from 960 sq ft to 7,290 sq ft and has the potential to create up to 400 jobs.
|
|
|
South East welcomes high-technology investment
The South East has seen a high level of investment in the past month, with a wide variety of overseas companies - most with a high-technology content - setting up new operations in the region. For example, Basan, a German-based distributor of cleanroom products and equipment, has opened a subsidiary in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Basan UK Ltd will supply wipes, reusable and disposable garments, gloves, mats and cleaning products to the pharmaceutical and semiconductor industries. In Sevenoaks, Kent, US company PolyChem Alloy of Lenoir, North Carolina, has opened a European office. The company produces speciality compounds and concentrates for the plastics industries and supplies a wide range of sectors, including flexible and rigid foams, computers and electronics, sports and recreation, office furniture, appliances and medical devices.
In Surrey, US company SunGard Data Systems of Pennsylvania is to acquire UK company Sherwood International, based in Chertsey, for $105 million, subject to acceptance by shareholders. SunGard provides integrated IT solutions to the financial services industry, while Sherwood supplies software and services to the insurance industry worldwide and to the UK government. At nearby East Grinstead, Software Shelf of Florida, which supplies software tools for systems administrators and end-users of Microsoft products, has opened a support and sales office for Europe and Africa. Intranet security company 14 South Networks, also of Florida, has opened a European headquarters at Camberley, while California-based Trapeze Networks, developer of the wireless local area network Mobility System, has opened a sales office in Maidenhead.
Thriving economy helps South West exceed performance targets
The South West of England Regional Development Agency exceeded its performance targets for the 2002/03 financial year, according to figures from the Department of Trade and Industry. In the course of the year the agency created or safeguarded 6,508 jobs, added 525 new businesses to the regional economy and reclaimed 238 acres of brownfield land.
Research sponsored by the RDA shows that the marine sector in the South West is almost twice as big as previously thought. The study, carried out by the Social Research and Regeneration Unit of Plymouth University, shows that there are 2,700 companies involved in the sector, compared with a previous estimate of 1,400, and that they employ 32,000 people. The biggest cluster of marine businesses is in Plymouth, followed by Poole, Bristol, Falmouth/Penryn, South Hams, Torbay and Penzance/Newlyn. The findings will contribute to the RDA’s plans to set up centres of excellence to improve skills in the marine industry.
Work has begun on a $1.9 million third phase of development at Torbay Business Park in Devon, which could create up to 50 jobs for the Paignton area. The 20,000 sq ft development will comprise five new units ranging in size from 3,500 sq ft to 8,500 sq ft, and will bring the total amount of space at the 12-acre park up to 75,000 sq ft. The second phase of the park is now fully occupied, with 55,000 sq ft of units let or sold in just 12 months, creating or securing more than 200 jobs in the process.
The Law Society has opened a new office in Bristol. The South West is one of the fastest growing regional economies outside London, and there are 2,000 solicitors in the Bristol area alone. The Law Society is opening four new offices this year: along with the South West office in Bristol, it will set up shop in Cardiff (Wales), Leicester (East Midlands) and Newcastle (North East), to complete a presence in each of the nine economic regions of England and Wales.
Wales increases share of inward investment
Wales improved its share of inward investment coming into the UK last year, claiming more than 14 per cent of all new jobs created by overseas companies, compared with 12.6 per cent the previous year. It attracted 7,779 new or safeguarded jobs in 2002/03, an increase of 6 per cent. New jobs rose from 3,872 to 4,083, giving Wales an 11.9 per cent share of the UK total, while safeguarded jobs rose from 3,445 to 3,696, representing 18.6 per cent of the total and putting Wales in first place among regions.
The overall number of overseas projects coming into Wales was 60 for the year, compared with 61 in 2001/02. Among key investments were those by Finnish-owned Shotton Paper, which safeguarded 500 jobs, and offshore installations specialist BHP Billiton, which created 80 new ones. Dairygold Food Products of Ireland expanded its cheese-making operation in mid-Wales, creating 68 jobs; expansion by US-owned TRW Automotive Chassis Systems safeguarded 198 jobs; while a new project by Italian-owned paper manufacturer Delicarta created 304 jobs.
Investment continues to flow into the principality. In Broughton, North Wales, for example, European aircraft maker Airbus, headquartered in Toulouse, France, has opened a new $565 million aerospace factory alongside its existing facility. The 900,000 sq ft West Factory will house wing assembly for the double-decker, 555-seater A380 airliner as well as other activities, and will create 1,200 new jobs.
Indian pharmaceutical company Wockhardt has acquired CP Pharmaceuticals of Wrexham, North Wales for around $18 million. The deal is the largest overseas acquisition by an Indian pharmaceutical company and puts Wockhardt in the UK’s top ten companies in the sector. It is an R&D-oriented company and a leader in biotechnology, employing more than 350 scientists. CP Pharmaceuticals employs 450 people and is a supplier to the UK’s National Health Service, with 225 product licences.
Riello UPS Manufacturing of Italy has acquired Riello Galatrek, also of Wrexham, formerly Advance Galatrek, part of Advance Electronics Ltd. Riello Galatrek manufactures products and systems to ensure uninterrupted power supplies to guard against electricity spikes, surges and outages. The new investment will create 25 new jobs. Riello UPS Manufacturing aims to become one of the top ten global companies in the UPS sector within the next 10 years.
Again in Wrexham, a new international bioscience research centre has opened. The Glyn O. Phillips Hydrocolloid Research Centre at the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education will focus on research into hydrocolloids - natural materials of plant, animal or human origin which are used as food additives and for biomedical transplant purposes. The idea for the centre was initiated by Japanese foods company San-Ei Gen FFI Inc. Wales has a thriving bioscience sector, with more than 200 companies employing 10,000 people, concentrated in two emerging clusters in North and South Wales.
Dansco Dairy Products, owned by McCain Foods, has invested a further $6.7 million in its food plant at Newcastle Emlyn in Carmarthenshire, where it produces mozzarella cheese. German plastics company Klöckner Pentaplast (KP) has increased its majority holding in PVC and PVC/PE film manufacturer G-Plas of Crumlin to 100 per cent.
A London-based property developer, Terrace Hill & Cirrus Properties, has been chosen to build a $9.6 million office complex as part of the Swansea Waterfront project in South Wales. The 47,000 sq ft development will extend over three floors, and will be suitable either for one major employer or for a number of medium-sized businesses. Swansea Waterfront is a bustling regeneration area, spreading over 100 acres surrounding the Prince of Wales Dock and bordering the River Tawe.
Around the regions
Seagate Technology, the computer hard disk manufacturer based in Scotts Valley, California, has announced a three-year investment programme worth $230 million at its plant in Springtown, Londonderry in Northern Ireland. The investment will allow the plant to develop new technology for hard disk drives with improved capacity and performance. It is eyeing new opportunities created by the growth of digital technology, including applications such as televisions, personal video recorders, gaming consoles and MP3 players.
Also in Northern Ireland, NACCO Materials Handling Group (NMHG), a wholly owned subsidiary of NACCO Industries Inc of Portland, Oregon, is to invest $55 million at its manufacturing plant in Craigavon to produce a new range of forklift trucks. The company has been producing lift trucks at the plant since 1980, initially under the Hyster brand and subsequently also the Yale brand. The company currently produces more than 15,000 lift trucks annually for customers in Europe and the Middle East. With the new investment, it will introduce a new range of 1- to 3.5-tonne trucks, featuring advanced engines and sophisticated electronics, and increase production to 20,000 units a year.
Availability in the Central London office market increased by 10 per cent in the second quarter of 2003 to stand at 26.8 million sq ft, according to the latest market survey by DTZ Research. Availability now totals 12.5 per cent of stock. The delivery of newly marketed space slowed from 6.5 million sq ft in the first quarter to 5 million sq ft in the second, while take-up rose from 1.7 million sq ft to 2.4 million sq ft. Office space under construction fell to 12.5 million sq ft, of which 5.2 million is speculative, and there were no major development starts. Incentives continue to rise and prime headline rents continue to fall. Rents in the City are now around $72 per sq ft and in the West End around $96 per sq ft.
The Crown Worldwide Group, based in Huntington Beach, California, has opened a 100,000 sq ft facility in Ruislip, west London. The company, which provides international relocation, household goods shipment, records management and logistics services, has combined four existing London branches into a single centre housing. The facility’s 65,000 sq ft warehouse is temperature-controlled, with a fire protection system and a warm air system to guard against low temperatures.
INK Communications & Design of Seattle, a public relations, marketing and creative services company, has opened its first overseas office in London. The office will serve the company’s current clientele of European technology companies and seek to develop new business throughout Europe and the Middle East.
Provider of data-centre automation software Opsware, based in Sunnyvale, California, has opened a European headquarters in London. Demand for systems management software is growing faster in Europe than in any other region, and Opsware hopes to capitalise on this. Its own system combines process automation with built-in operations knowledge on a variety of different technologies.
Automated control system developer AMX, based in Richardson, Texas, has opened a new European service centre in York, Yorkshire and Humber, to augment the European training facilities it already has in the city. Also in York, Xeikon International, part of the Belgian-based group Punch International, has opened a new UK subsidiary. The new company will be responsible for the sales and service of Xeikon digital colour printing equipment, and will work alongside Xeikon’s local partner, Openshaw.
IVAX pharmaceuticals UK, a subsidiary of the IVAX Corporation of Miami, is expanding its operations in North West England, relocating from its current facilities in Runcorn, Cheshire to a bespoke manufacturing plant at nearby Preston Brook. The move, which will create and safeguard a total of 385 jobs, will allow the company to increase its capacity and develop new products for the treatment of pulmonary ailments such as asthma.
In West Cumbria, North West England, business incubator company Campus Ventures has opened a new incubator at Fleswick Court on the Westlakes Science and Technology Park. The 2,400 sq ft facility will specialise in technology businesses with potential for high growth, particularly in the energy and environmental service industries, and will offer a full range of back-up services. Campus Ventures started in 1995 at the University of Manchester and now operates six incubators across North West England. In that time, it has helped more than 100 technology start-up companies to find their feet.
China’s second largest PC manufacturer, Founder Group, is to establish the European headquarters for its International Business Division (IBD) in Glasgow, Scotland. The new centre will create 100 jobs over the next three years and will act as a springboard for the company’s entry into the European market. Founder was established in 1986 by Beijing University and has grown to become one of China’s top ten technology companies.
Brandt, a subsidiary of the Varco Corporation, based in Houston, Texas, has opened a new shaker screen manufacturing facility at its Portlethen plant in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. The company manufactures shale shakers, used to separate solids from drilling fluids, and is currently recruiting new staff to cater for the expansion. It serves a range of customers in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Investment agency Scottish Development International has opened a new North American headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to add to existing offices in Chicago, Houston, San Jose and Toronto. Scotland’s Tourism Minister, Frank McAveety, was presented with a key to the city by its Mayor, Michael Sullivan, to mark the event. Scotland has longstanding ties with Massachusetts and the East Coast of the United States. US companies such as JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley Bank and State Street Bank have invested in Glasgow, while Scottish biotech companies such as Voxar have established operations in Massachusetts.
A new low-cost airline, Duo, is to start operating flights from Edinburgh in Scotland to Oslo, Geneva, Zurich and Milan in October. Berlin-based Germania Express is to launch a weekday direct scheduled service between Prestwick airport and the German capital. The airlines are among several to benefit from a $10.4 million fund set up by the Scottish Executive to encourage the opening of new routes.
Advantage West Midlands is the main contributor to an $80 million funding package for the region’s automotive engineering sector, which employs 50,000 people. The bulk of the money will be used to set up an international automotive research centre based at Warwick Manufacturing Group.
Also in the West Midlands, clearance work has begun at a former factory site in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, which is slated to become a new technology park. The 24-acre Bromsgrove Technology Park will be strategically sited on the A38 high-technology corridor, with excellent access to the M42 and M5 motorways. The development could create up to 700 jobs.
Work on the second phase of the Swallow Gate Business Park in Warwickshire, meanwhile has been accelerated, with completion set for later this year. Currently a completed building of 23,750 sq ft is available. The Warwickshire Investment Partnership has launched a new online search facility to allow businesses to explore its database of properties for sale or let. Access it at: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/wips.
An new, energy-efficient office and light industrial complex has been completed at the Harmire Enterprise Park at Barnard Castle in Teesdale, North East England. The $2.2 million scheme includes two large office units and two 5,000 sq ft terraces of workshops. The buildings incorporate photovoltaic panels in their roofs to convert solar energy into electricity, recycled rainwater for flushing toilets and other environmentally friendly features. The centre is expected to attract start-up companies and small to medium-sized enterprises, and could create up to 60 jobs.
Slaley Hall in Northumberland, North East England recently played host to the UK-Japan High Technology Forum. Some 140 delegates attended, including leading businessmen from Japanese companies such as Nissan and Sony, their counterparts from UK companies such as BAE Systems, Epigem and Xcellsyz, and leading academics. The event highlighted the North East’s strategy of putting high technology at the forefront of its development plans. It was sponsored by RDA One North East, the Japanese Economic Foundation and the Asia Pacific Technology Network.