News
September, 2003
Manufacturing sector shows signs of upturn
The number of people in work in the UK hit a record level in the second quarter of 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics. Employment rose by 63,000 to 27.92 million in the three months to June, the highest level since records began in 1984. The number of people working full-time also rose by 47,000, while those working part-time declined by 16,000. Average earnings in the three months to June were 3.1 per cent higher than a year earlier. The number of people seeking work but failing to find it was down over the quarter by 42,000 to 1.46 million, giving an unemployment rate of 5 per cent, largely unchanged from May.
The UK’s manufacturing sector grew in July for the first time in nine months, according to a survey by Reuters and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. Production rose for the second consecutive month, while new business grew at a steady pace. Output rose 0.1 per cent in the quarter to June, the first positive figure in more than two years, while activity in the service sector was at its highest level since May 2002.
The rise in new orders masked the fact that new export business, particularly to the US, had suffered in recent months due to the relative strength of sterling. However, the better-than-expected news led to cautious optimism that the UK’s economic downturn may be coming to an end. Some economists predict that, if improvement is sustained, growth could climb from 0.3 per cent in the second quarter to as much as 0.8 per cent in the third. According to Economic Research Company NTC Research, the July figures were consistent with a 2.1 per cent rise in GDP and a 0.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter expansion. The indicated upturn, together with the ONS figures on employment and continued high levels of consumer spending, mean that the Bank of England is unlikely to reduce interest rates any further in the near future.
Another piece of good news for the manufacturing sector came with the launch by the University of Teesside, in North East England, of its new B2B Manufacturing Centre. The centre, set up in collaboration with the National B2B Centre based at the University of Warwick in the West Midlands, was supported by a $2.9 million grant from Regional Development Agency One NorthEast. The centre will support businesses in the region in areas such as e-trading, supply chain management, distribution and collaborative product development.
Government announces huge funding boost for Thames Gateway
The government has announced $528 million in funding over the next three years to help regenerate derelict areas of Thames Gateway, the 40-mile-long riverside corridor to the east of London. Five strategic areas have been earmarked for development, with the aim of creating 120,000 new jobs and 180,000 new homes: Barking and Dagenham, Greenwich, north Kent, Thurrock and Stratford, on which London’s 2012 Olympic bid will be centred. Other growth areas in the south and east of the country - Ashford in Kent, Milton Keynes and the Stansted-Cambridge corridor - will share $218 million in funding, while a further $230 million will be parcelled out later this year.
Deputy prime minister John Prescott, who announced the package as part of the government’s Sustainable Communities Plan, hopes that the public investment in Thames Gateway will act as seed capital in helping to generate further investment from the private sector, to the tune of $1.6 to 3.2 billion. Business organisations, however, have warned that the plans are unlikely to have much substance without further investment in the region’s infrastructure.
Despite this, businesses are already moving into the Thames Gateway, transforming it into the largest industrial region in the South East. The Royal Mail, which has recently decided to replace its rail distribution network, is looking for a 19-acre site, either north of south of the River Thames, where it can build a 205,000 sq ft distribution hub that will include 75,000 sq ft of warehousing and 130,000 sq ft of workshop space. It is looking at existing schemes in the area, including schemes at West Thurrock and Thames Gateway Park in Dagenham. Other proposed developments in the Thames Gateway area include 300,000 sq ft of industrial space at a 12-acre BP site at Crayford in Kent and a 1 million sq ft industrial and distribution scheme at Dagenham Docks in Essex. Construction at the 60-acre site is expected to begin in 2005.
Office developments on the drawing board
In Soho in central London, a half-acre site in Wardour Street W1 is set to house the area’s biggest office development for many years. Planning permission has been granted for a 150,000 sq ft building on the site of the 1920s Film House in Wardour Street and adjoining buildings on St Anne’s Court and Carlisle Street. The scheme will provide a basement, ground and five upper floors with floorplates of 20,000 sq ft. A little further north, a six-storey office building on a 1.8-acre site on Hampstead Road NW1, near Euston Station, has also received planning consent. Besides 260,000 sq ft of office space, the $240 million development will incorporate either storage space or residential flats.
Outside London, Mercedes-Benz has been given the go-ahead to develop a 148-acre site next to Brooklands race track at Weybridge, Surrey. The site, which will be bought by parent company Daimler-Chrysler, will include a heritage and technology centre, a driving circuit, a hotel, offices and a recreational park.
In Edinburgh in Scotland, the green light has been given for a $640 million redevelopment of the city’s former Royal Infirmary. The 19-acre scheme, named Quartermile Edinburgh, will include 500,000 sq ft of office space, 650 homes and 78,000 sq ft of shops, together with leisure facilities and a five-star hotel. The project is due for completion in 2010.
Office rents still falling, but market may bottom out by year-end
According to property specialist DTZ Research, in its latest core - central offices research report, the availability of prime office space in central London increased by 10 per cent in the second quarter of 2003 to 26.8 million sq ft, to reach 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, though overall 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, 5.2 million of which was speculative. There were no major development starts in the second quarter. Prime headline rents in the West End remained unchanged at $96 per sq ft, though in the City they continued to fall, to stand at $72 per sq ft. Incentives in the City can now be as much as 36 months for a lease of 15 years, compared with 18-24 months in the West End.
Across the UK, prime office rents have fallen by 13.5 per cent over the past year, with an annualised fall of 11 per cent in the second quarter of 2003, says Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker (CWHB) in its latest Quarterly Marketbeat UK report. The market remains favourable for tenants, with increased flexibility in leases and strong competition on the part of landlords to secure occupiers, although the report notes signs of greater stability and an upturn in demand. Availability remains high in London and the South East and in certain regional markets such as Birmingham in the West Midlands, although demand is edging up in certain other cities, such as Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland.
In central London, the West End market remains more resilient than in the City, boosted by the lure of prestigious addresses and demand from public sector and government occupiers. In the City, where the vacancy rate has risen to nearly 12 per cent, requirements have started to rise over recent months and take-up has improved. However, demand is likely to be tested later this year when a further 6 million sq ft of space currently under construction in the City and Docklands is completed. Investor demand remains strong, says CWHB, particularly among companies from Germany, Ireland and the Middle East.
In the industrial sector, demand is strongest for distribution warehousing, driven by the reorganisation of retailer and logistics networks. Prime space is in limited supply in key strategic locations, notes the report, and given a sustained economic upturn in this sector, excess capacity could soon be absorbed and rents could start to rise again from 2005.
CWHB estimates that the London leasing market has fallen to a lower level than it did during the recession of the early 1990s, though the company believes that overall the rental market is close to the bottom of its cycle and is likely to pick up in 2004. Other agents broadly agree: both Knight Frank and FPD Savills believe that the M25 market will bottom out by the end of the year, with availability peaking at 28 million sq ft, a vacancy rate of just over 13 per cent. In the Thames Valley there are already signs of revival, with US pharmaceutical company Amgen, the world’s biggest biotechnology company, reported to be on the lookout for a site close to Heathrow Airport where it can establish a 150,000 sq ft European headquarters, and three significant lettings concluded in nearby Slough.
The current climate, however, is still one in which Planet 24, a subsidiary of Carlton Communications, is offering an 11,200 sq ft floor of an office building in Docklands for zero rent. Prospective tenants of the Walbrook Building, on Marsh Wall E14, will be expected to pay only rates, service charges and occupation costs. Planet 24 will pay the rent for the remainder of the lease - though this only runs until 24 December 2004.
Scientific emphasis is on research and innovation
Six biotechnology projects have shared nearly $1.6 million in government funding, announced by science and innovation minister Lord Sainsbury under the Department of Trade and Industry’s BIO-WISE programme. The programme encourages UK manufacturing and service companies to develop their biotechnology programmes by testing new discoveries and prototype products in large-scale industrial environments. Run by the DTI’s Bioscience Unit, it has paid out $15.2 million in support to biotech companies since 1999.
Among the latest beneficiaries are Randox Laboratories of Crumlin, County Antrim in Northern Ireland, which has been awarded $386,000 for a two-year project to scale up production of new medical diagnostic testing technology. Other companies to receive awards are C-Tech Innovation of Chester, North West England, which is working on recycling metals in computers and mobile phones; All Finished 4U Ltd of Coventry, West Midlands, which has developed a new pre-wash coating for metal components derived from seaweed; Advanced Enzyme Technology of Pontypool, South Wales, for its handheld water pollution testing kits; Cybersense Biosystems of Oxford, South East England, which produces environmental toxicity testing equipment; and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, also in Oxford, which is working on improved treatment of industrial and sewage waste water.
In the meantime, Lord Sainsbury has officially opened the new drug discovery chemistry facility of Scynexis Europe, a subsidiary of US corporation Scynexis Inc, at the Fyfield Business and Research Park in Essex, Eastern England. First established 18 months ago, the facility has already secured a good reputation for the quality of its drug discoveries, and has concluded agreements with Roche and Merck & Co, among others. Lying between London and Cambridge, both centres for the life sciences industry, the 30,000 sq ft facility employs 45 staff, most of whom are scientists.
The Centre for Life in Newcastle, North East England, recently played host to a meeting of the UK Micro and Nanotechnology Network Group, a newly formed group that aims to strengthen the capability of the nanotechnology sector across the UK. Supported by the DTI, with the support of the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the group is working to ensure that universities and businesses across the UK have access to high-tech facilities that enable the development of nanotechnology. It is currently considering a number of investments across the UK.
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee meanwhile has produced a report, Science and the RDAs: SETting the regional agenda, which highlights the positive impact that scientific development and innovation can have on regional economic development. The report highlights the key role that RDAs play in nurturing science, engineering and technology (SET), and called for the government to balance science expenditure more evenly across the UK.
Regional initiative to accelerate roll-out of broadband
In an effort to extend the roll-out of high-speed broadband internet access, the government is to set up nine new Regional Aggregation Bodies (RABs), one for each of the English regions, from 1 January 2004. The RABs will work in partnership with the existing Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and will take responsibility for buying packages of broadband services for public sector organisations such as schools and hospitals. They will also work with the RDAs to identify new public sector customers that could benefit from such packages, and to extend coverage in remote areas.
The government aims to provide broadband access to every school in the country by 2006, and also to connect up every hospital and doctor’s surgery. The RAB scheme is expected to make broadband more widely available across the UK and, ultimately, cheaper for all users, including businesses. East Midlands Development Agency (emda) has been chosen to lead a national pilot scheme for the initiative.
Meanwhile, in the North West, $24 million in funding has been secured to help set up a centre of excellence in information and communication technology at Lancaster University. InfoLab21 will create an ICT hub for the region, offering research, computing and communications facilities, as well as incubation support for spin-out and start-up companies.
Telecoms regulator promises tougher approach
The director-general of Oftel, the current regulator for the UK’s telecoms industry, has promised to take a more "directive approach" when framing future legislation and deregulation of the sector. David Edmonds, who is to join the board of new ‘super regulator’ Ofcom, has admitted to regrets over the way in which previous initiatives had been handled. Chief among these was the lengthy consultation and negotiation process involved in ‘unbundling the local loop’ (the process by which broadband operators were given access to British Telecom’s exchanges), which allowed BT to hold up the launch of rival services.
Mr Edmonds promised a more robust approach to such regulation in future, and pointed to Oftel-supported policies such as carrier pre-select alternatives to BT and wholesale line rental that are already opening up consumer choice. Ofcom, which formally comes into being on 29 December, will combine the functions of five existing bodies regulating different sectors of the media and telecoms industries.
Midlands build for the future
A new Urban Regeneration Company, the fifteenth to be set up by the government, has been established to stimulate investment and spearhead the redevelopment of the East Midlands city of Derby. Derby Cityscape is a limited company supported by private and public organisations, including Derby City Council, East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the government regeneration agency English Partnerships. Over the next 20 years, it plans to regenerate a number of city centre sites, with a value of up to $440 million, through a combination of urban housing, office and business accommodation, hotels and retail space. Work is under way to produce a detailed development and business plan, encompassing architecture and design, transport and the environment.
"The range of projects which are envisaged vary in complexity," said Acting Chief Executive of Derby Cityscape, Michael Hall. "Some are relatively easily implemented and are almost immediately commercially viable, whilst others will require extensive land assembly and funding support to be put into place." Part of the company’s role in coordinating development will be to broker solutions between freeholders, planners, developers and grant agencies. Derby, with a population of 221,700, is the smallest of the three major cities in the East Midlands; its larger neighbours are Nottingham and Leicester.
In the West Midlands, companies in Shropshire are benefiting from a free government programme that aims to encourage employers to train low-skilled employees. The county has been chosen to host one of 12 Employer Training Pilots, launched jointly by the Department for Education and Skills and the Learning and Skills Council. As well as meeting the costs of basic skills training in literacy and numeracy, the scheme also covers a percentage of the costs incurred in releasing employees during normal working hours. Support is available for firms of all sizes, but the scheme is aimed primarily at companies with fewer than 50 staff.
The Shropshire town of Telford, an investment hotspot, has produced a new guide for overseas companies looking to set up or expand their business there. The Workforce Document, from the Telford Development Agency (TDA), provides useful facts and figures about the town’s economy, employers, workforce and organisations of use to overseas investors. It can be downloaded at: www.cometotelford.co.uk/pages/business.html.
The workforce of the Borough of Telford and Wrekin now stands at 80,000, with a further 300,000 people of working age within 30 minutes’ drive, says TDA. The service sector employs 66 per cent of the workforce (up by 2 per cent from 2000), but there is still a large manufacturing base in the area. Manufacturing accounts for 28 per cent of the workforce, compared with 19 per cent in the rest of the West Midlands and 14 per cent nationally. There are 44 major companies with more than 150 staff, and half of these are from overseas. In all, Telford has more than 150 foreign-owned companies from 15 countries, employing just over 16,000 people, or 20 per cent of the workforce.
Car-makers put faith in UK operations
Van maker LDV, based in Birmingham in the West Midlands, plans to double its workforce to 2,000 and quadruple production to more than 50,000 vehicles a year. The company is buying $200 million of assets from the receivers of Daewoo, the defunct Korean automotive group that had been its partner on a new range of vehicles, and is also looking to take on skilled staff made redundant by French train maker Alstom, which has closed its Birmingham operation. LDV plans to make a new range of vans itself but is also looking for potential international business partners. Iveco, the truck-making subsidiary of Fiat, is thought to be one contender.
Meanwhile Jaguar and Rover, UK subsidiaries of the Ford Motor Company, are to reorganise their operations at Halewood on Merseyside, in North West England. The companies will bring together production of their highest-volume products, the Land Rover Freelander and the X-Type Jaguar, under a single roof, safeguarding thousands of jobs. Halewood, Ford’s best-performing plant worldwide, has recently agreed a number of new working practices aimed at maintaining its competitiveness.
North East builds business links
A new business association, the North East Asian Business Forum, has been set up to highlight the work of North East Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi business people and the economic and social contribution they make to the economy of the North East of England. There are many well-established Asian businesses in the region, some of them third- or fourth-generation, in sectors ranging from food and clothing to manufacturing, IT and pharmaceuticals. The Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Shri Ranendra Sen, recently visited the region, providing an opportunity to build further business links.
The organisers of Intertech 2003, the business event that takes place in the North East city of Durham in October, have introduced an online delegate and seminar selection system that allows delegates to arrange meetings with potential partner companies well in advance. Already nearly 200 companies, from all over the world, have signed up to the event. Among them are the Mississippi Gulf Coast Alliance from the US and a delegation representing biotechnology companies in China’s Hunan province, including the Hunan Liuyang Biopharmaceutical Industry Park, which is home to China’s national human stem cell research project. For more information on Intertech 2003, visit: www.intertech.2003.com.
Vibrant North West attracts new investment
MIDAS (Manchester Investment and Development Agency Service) helped to bring in a total of $50 million in new business investment in the Manchester area for the year 2002/03. A recent survey carried out by the agency shows that the quality and size of the workforce is one of the prime considerations in companies’ decisions to locate in the Greater Manchester area. Of seven major companies that have recently set up businesses there, creating a total of 1,500 new jobs, all cited the pool of potential employees as one of their top three reasons for moving to the area. Of those employed, 88 per cent were local residents. Other positive factors included the availability of land and property, transport links, access to support agencies and training programmes, and the vibrancy of the city.
Outside Manchester, a number of new business park developments are on the cards for the North West. A new business centre is to be established at Futures Park in Bacup, Rossendale in Lancashire, with $3.6 million in funding from the North West Development Agency (NWDA) and the European Regional Development Fund. It will provide fully serviced and managed business accommodation, with training facilities and broadband connectivity, and will be targeted at local business start-ups and small firms.
The NWDA has also earmarked $1.6 million for further development at nearby Eden Business Park. Backed by Eden District Council, the scheme will see 25 acres of land developed for business and industrial use on a site near the busy M6 corridor. The NWDA has allocated a similar amount for infrastructure improvements at Chester Business Park in Cheshire, one of its 25 designated Strategic Sites. The project will see the construction of a new dual carriageway on the A483 Wrexham road, together with footways, cycleways and landscaping work.
In Liverpool, German power tools and household appliances manufacturer Bosch has announced plans to set up a new customer contact centre, creating 90 jobs. The Bosch Communication Centre is the latest step in the company’s European expansion strategy, following the setting up of centres in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain. Liverpool has a flourishing call centre sector, with 60 centres employing more than 13,000 people. A $320,000 Regional Selective Assistance grant from the NWDA was another incentive for Bosch to locate there.
Manchester airport voted best in Britain
Manchester airport, meanwhile, has been voted ‘Best UK Airport’ in a reader survey by the Sunday Times Travel Magazine, repeating its success of January, when it received a similar accolade from members of the travel industry in the prestigious Travel Weekly Globe Awards. Sunday Times readers cited plentiful parking and ease of access through the terminal as two of the airport’s big plus points. Heathrow Airport was voted second in the poll and Gatwick third; Heathrow, however, also topped the ‘least favourite airport’ list.
Budget airline easyJet has launched three new routes from Newcastle Airport in the North East, bringing the number of destinations it offers to seven. Daily flights now operate to Prague in the Czech Republic, to Paris Charles de Gaulle in France and to Bristol in South West England. Eight major international airlines operate out of Newcastle, serving numerous European cities and intercontinental hubs such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Amsterdam and Brussels.
The estimated volume of traffic on Britain’s roads rose by 1 per cent between the second quarter of 2002 and the same quarter of 2003, according to statistics from the Department for Transport. This followed similar growth of 1.2 per cent in the first quarter. There was little change in the volume of car traffic, which accounts for 80 per cent of all road traffic, though goods vehicles in urban areas increased by 6.2 per cent on major roads and van traffic (representing 11 per cent of all motor vehicles) grew by 5.9 per cent. Traffic volumes for the whole of 2002 rose by 2.5 per cent over 2001, though this figure partly reflects the impact of that year’s outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The underlying rate is estimated to be 1-2 per cent a year.
Newport unveils development plans
The city of Newport in South Wales is planning a major development of a 26-acre site previously occupied by a Pirelli cable factory. Located near the city centre and just four miles from the M4 motorway, the site is earmarked for a mixture of housing and employment development. Another new development is planned around the Hynix fabrication plant, where the Welsh Development Agency has signed a deal to develop 55 acres of land for business use. The plant itself, a 1.3 million sq ft test and assembly facility, is currently being marketed to potential manufacturers in the semiconductor, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industries.
At the city’s docks, meanwhile, Associated British Ports (ABP) has signed a three-year deal with Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus to handle steel exports, investing $1.3 million in a new crane. Traffic has recently begun flowing through Newport’s new $7.4 million timber handling terminal, which opened in June.
Around the regions
Sims Recycling Solutions, owned by the European subsidiary of Sims Group of Australia, is to expand its refrigerator recycling plant in Newport, South Wales, which it set up in 2002. The new facility, to be completed by October, will use the latest technology to ‘demanufacture’ large commercial refrigerators from the food and supermarket sectors, complying with recovery targets for ozone-depleting substances set by the UK Environment Agency. The expansion will create a further 35 jobs and, at full capacity, the plant will be capable of processing 700,000 fridges annually.
German manufacturing company Moeschle (UK) Ltd has set up its UK sales base at Epworth in North Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Humber, close to the port facilities of Hull and Immingham. The company is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of stainless steel tanks and containers, supplying process industries such as the food and drink, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and paints and varnishes sectors. In the last 15 years, the company has produced some 200 million litres of tank capacity.
US media systems provider Media 100, based in Marlboro, Massachusetts, has opened a showcase facility in Soho, in London’s West End, the heartland of the UK’s broadcast and production industries. The company develops media systems for content design, allowing creative professionals to design effects-intensive work on personal computers. The new facility will offer training for editors and operators, and will provide a base for dedicated sales and technical teams.
New York-based Teliris, which provides interactive telepresence services, has opened a video network operations centre at a secure facility in London. The company’s solutions are used, for example, to link different locations using high-quality video and audio technology, in place of face-to-face meetings. The new centre has a fully electronic access control system and is protected by biometric palm scanners, an intruder detection system and CCTV monitoring.
Australian industrial software developer Bowen & Groves, based in Narre Warren, Victoria, has set up a European operation in Teddington, Greater London. The company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is designed for small and medium-sized businesses that require integration and automation in functions from quoting through to invoicing. B&G Business Solutions has already completed four installations at UK manufacturing companies.
NCR of Dayton, Ohio is to build a new, $11 million call centre at Mossend in Lanarkshire, Scotland, following its opening last year of a $30 million research and development centre in Dundee. The new facility will increase the technology company’s skilled workforce in the area from 96 to around 400 over the next two years, through relocation of existing staff and the generation of new business. Investment will include telephony and data technology which, where necessary, will route calls to NCR facilities overseas to ensure continuous global support.
Dutch IT services company PinkRoccade has relocated from its existing premises in Paisley, Scotland to a new service centre in nearby Glasgow. The expansion, which will create 100 new jobs, is part of a multi-million-dollar programme that has already seen the creation of a new National Data Centre in Runcorn, North West England and the roll-out of a major new IT infrastructure.
Swedish industrial group Trelleborg has bought the Polymer Sealing Solutions (PSS) business of Smiths Group for around $792 million, subject to EU and US regulatory approval. PSS, based in London, employs 6,000 people in more than 25 countries and is a leader in polymer technology for the industrial, automotive and aerospace industries.
US company NIR, based in Portland, Oregon, has opened a 7,000 sq ft office and manufacturing facility in Slough, South East England. The company produces custom retail fixture and display systems, handling everything from concept and design to manufacturing and installation. The new facility will serve the European market.
Manningham Mills, a Grade II* listed landmark building in Bradford, Yorkshire and Humber, is to be transformed into a complex of apartments, shops, offices and workspaces, with $9.6 million in funding from RDA Yorkshire Forward and Bradford City Council. The 700,000 sq ft building, built in 1871 and featuring a 250 sq ft chimney stack, was once the world’s largest silk mill, but in recent years has become derelict. The first flats are due for completion in 2006; overall, the restoration project is expected to create 1,300 jobs.
Swiss pharmaceuticals group Galenica has made its first UK acquisition with the purchase of Potter’s (Herbal Supplies), a family-run producer of herbal medicines based in Wigan, North West England. Potter’s will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the group but will continue to trade under its own name. It offers a range of prescription-free, plant-based remedies for conditions such as rheumatic pain, heart and circulatory problems, cough and cold symptoms, menopause and depression.
Italian manufacturer Mapei, which produces adhesives, sealants and chemical products for the construction industry, plans to open a manufacturing facility at Halesowen in the West Midlands.
FIMBank (UK), owned by First International Merchant Bank (FIMBank) of Malta, is to buy trade financier London Forfaiting Company for around $50 million, subject to approvals. FIMBank is a fully licensed credit institution specialising in short-term traditional trade; last year it financed 40 per cent of the world’s ship-scrapping market. LFC was established in 1948 to provide forfaiting and other trade-related finance products (forfaiting is essentially the discounting of international trade debts). To date it has financed trade worth billions of dollars between 60 countries worldwide.
Cendant Europe, a subsidiary of the hotel division of Cendant Corporation of New York, has opened three new hotels in the UK. The Days Hotel Derby, in the East Midlands, is situated next to Derby County Cricket Ground, and has 100 bedrooms, meeting rooms and a fitness centre next door. The Days Inn Dundee, in the centre of the Scottish city, has 68 bedrooms, a meeting room and a bar and restaurant. The third property, the Days Hotel Birmingham West, in West Bromwich in the West Midlands, is a relaunch of an existing hotel and has 133 bedrooms, five meeting rooms and a café. The three new hotels bring Cendant’s total in the UK to 28. It plans to open another ten before the end of the year, beginning with the Days Hotel South Ruislip in London in September.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is to open its first UK outlet at the world-famous Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, central London. Krispy Kreme, founded in 1937, operates more than 300 stores in the United States, Canada and Australia. The Harrods store, scheduled to open in October, is the first of 25 planned for the UK and Ireland over the next five years. It will serve fresh, hot doughnuts from 7am daily, and will feature its own doughnut-making theatre, which will show customers how doughnuts are made.