March 2005

News

UK scores highly in entrepreneurial stakes
The UK is one of the most entrepreneurial countries in the world – less so than the US or Canada, admittedly, but ahead of rivals such as Japan, Germany, France and Italy, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2004. The survey finds that the proportion of people in the UK expecting to start a business over the next three years has increased significantly, from 7.8 per cent of the population in 2002 to 9.5 per cent in 2004. It shows that the North-South enterprise gap is narrowing, while there has been a big increase in business start-ups by women – particularly in the East Midlands, Eastern England, the North East, the North West, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Students show greater levels of entrepreneurial activity than before, up from 0.9 per cent in 2003 to 2.3 per cent in 2004, and again with women to the fore. People from ethnic minorities are also more likely than most to start their own business. The region with the biggest number of high-growth start-ups is Wales, which accounts for 40 per cent of the national total, while the South West claims 29.9 per cent of all new technology start-ups. The GEM survey, now in its sixth year, is a worldwide study carried out by the London Business School and Babson College. For the 2004 report, it questioned 25,000 adults across the UK.

A former coalfield in the East Midlands has been named the most enterprising place in the UK. Sherwood Energy Village in North Nottinghamshire was announced as the winner of the Enterprising Britain competition by Chancellor Gordon Brown at a London conference in February. The 12 regional finalists also included the cities of Leeds and Belfast and Hatton Garden in London. Sherwood Energy Village is a scheme devised by the community of Ollerton in response to the closure of its colliery in 1994 and the loss of two textile factories. The aim of the project was to rebuild and diversify the town’s economic base and in this it has succeeded, by creating a mixed-use development on a 91-acre site, following core principles of economic and environmental sustainability. By 2007, the project will have created 1,500 new jobs – compared with 1,000 supported by the colliery in its heyday.


Spin-out companies make their presence felt
The number of spin-out companies from universities listing on the stock market increased to nine in 2004, from just one a year earlier. Though the numbers are still small, the trend underlines the growing significance of this type of company and justifies the government’s use of tax breaks to encourage universities to commercialise their research, according to analysts. The biggest spin-out in 2004 was ARK Therapeutics, a gene medicine company originating at University College London, whose IPO on the London Stock Exchange was valued at $319 million. Others came from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Southampton, Edinburgh, St Andrew’s and Queen’s, Belfast. Between them, they had a combined value of $1.1 billion.

The spin-out business model is also robust, with far better survival rates than the average for new technology start-ups. According to research by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the failure rate for spin-outs from 10 universities (including Oxford, Edinburgh, Strathclyde and Imperial College, London) was less than 10 per cent, compared with an average of 60-70 per cent among high-tech companies in general.

The increase in spin-outs reflects a significant change in the way universities and higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK transfer knowledge when dealing with business, according to a report from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The Higher Education-Business and Community Interaction Survey 2002-03 shows that the level and quality of interaction between universities and business have increased, with 89 per cent of HEIs now offering a single entry point and 79 per cent helping companies to identify the resources they need. Commercial and public sector organisations spent $247 million on education and continuing professional development supplied by the HE sector in the period surveyed, and HEIs generated consultancy income of $319.2 million, up 38 per cent year-on-year. There was also a significant increase in employment by spin-out companies, and patent applications were up by 26 per cent. UK universities create one spin-out company for every $32 million spent on research, compared with every $114 million in the US.

Public sector research establishments (PSREs), such as research council institutes and NHS Trusts, are also generating more income from links with business and from licensing intellectual property. Boosted by government incentives, PSREs generated nearly $200 million from knowledge transfer in 2003-04, according to a survey by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)’s Office of Science and Technology. The report shows that over the course of the year 316 patent applications were made and 228 patents were granted, 621 licensing agreements were made and 69 spin-out companies were established. Successful examples of knowledge transfer activities include the British Geological Survey, which has licensed digital data identifying areas of ground instability for use by the insurance and conveyancing industries, and the Health Protection Agency, which has licensed rights to Chiron Vaccines for the manufacture of meningitis B vaccines.


Knowledge transfer boosts academic links with business
Among individual initiatives around the country, Lancaster University in North West England has opened a new ICT centre to promote technology transfer between its ICT researchers and local industry, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). InfoLab21 will form a physical hub for a virtual network of more than 100 companies in the region. It will bring together 250 ICT experts in an academic wing and around 20 specialised ICT SMEs in its Knowledge Business Centre, and will also contain a training suite. The university is internationally respected for its ICT research, which covers areas such as signal processing and coding, wired and wireless computer networking, software systems engineering and human-computer interfacing.

The University of Glasgow, in Scotland, has developed software for an award-winning electrocardiogram (ECG) recorder made by US-based Quinton Cardiology Systems. Quinton and its predecessors have collaborated with the university for more than 15 years, and in this case the two worked in partnership at the company’s Deerfield, Wisconsin facility to develop software for the Atria 3000 ECG recorder. The machine, used in the diagnosis, monitoring and management of patients with heart disease, incorporates cutting-edge capabilities, such as wireless communications, within a traditional ECG recorder. The software, the University of Glasgow ECG Interpretation Algorithm, was first developed in the 1970s and is known worldwide as ‘the Glasgow program’.

A new company is being established at Newcastle University that will help to speed up the development of anti-cancer drugs. Cancer Dynamics, set up with the assistance of the Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences (CELS), will provide integrated pre-clinical consultancy and pharmacology resources to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, initially in Europe but later worldwide. It will help to bring more anti-cancer drugs to clinical trials, and will design trials in a way that improves the speed and efficiency of drug development. The company, the first of its kind in Europe, will employ 10 people initially, rising to 20 in the medium term.

A new Composite Structures Development Centre has opened at Airbus UK’s site at Filton, near Bristol in South West England. The $22.8 million facility, which will concentrate on composites for the aerospace and marine sectors, will act as a regional hub for companies, colleges and universities active in the sector. It is one of several regional centres planned in a National Composites Network, as demand for the high-tech materials grows. It will undertake more than $190 million of R&D work over the next five years, and will employ around 100 engineers. Airbus is one of six organisations leading the national network.

Meanwhile, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (GSB) is to relocate its campus from Barcelona in Spain to London. After a decade in Spain, the school has decided to move its Executive MBA Program to benefit from London’s corporate and financial power. “Going forward, the GSB belongs in Europe’s business centre. It’s no accident that business leaders rank London as the top European city in which to do business,” said its dean, Edward A. Snyder. Chicago GSB is a long-established institution that currently ranks sixth in the Financial Times list of the top 100 full-time MBA programmes worldwide. It will make its new home at the Woolgate Exchange, at 25 Basinghall Street in the City of London.


Manufacturing and services bring economic cheer
Manufacturing output rose twice as fast as expected in December 2004, growing by 0.6 per cent from November – the first time for several months that data has surpassed expectations. This prompted the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to revise its forecast for overall economic growth in the final quarter of the year from 0.7 per cent to 0.8 per cent. The growth rate for manufacturing output in the final quarter has been revised to 0.2 per cent.

The UK was the world’s second largest exporter and third largest importer of services in 2003, according to a separate survey by the ONS. It accounted for 8 per cent of global exports, second only to the US, and 6.7 per cent of imports, behind the US and Germany. Exports of services grew by 4.5 per cent over the year and imports by 5.4 per cent, creating a surplus of $29.6 billion, the same as in 2002. Exports have more than doubled since 1993, from $77.9 billion to $172.9 billion, while imports have risen from $66.5 billion to $144.5 billion.

The UK has a trade surplus in services with every continent except Europe (this is largely explained by the number of UK tourists travelling to France and Spain), and in 2003 recorded a surplus in every service category except transportation, travel and government services. The biggest rise by category was in computer and information services, exports of which jumped 35 per cent to $8.9 billion. Architecture also scored well, helped by prestigious projects such as Lord Foster’s designs for the new Reichstag dome in Berlin and the world’s highest road bridge, which opened recently over the River Tarn in central France. Exports of services now account for more than half of the UK’s total exports (excluding oil). Overall, the UK’s trade deficit with the rest of the world narrowed last December, from $6.3 billion in November to $5.7 billion. For whole-year 2004, the ONS estimates the deficit at $74.7 billion, compared with $60.4 billion in 2003.


Postal market liberalisation to be delivered early
The UK’s postal market is to liberalised from the beginning of 2006, more than a year earlier than planned. Postal regulator Postcomm has announced that licensed companies will be permitted to enter the market from 1 January 2006. The move is part of an effort to encourage the incumbent operator Royal Mail, which currently holds 99 per cent of the market, to improve its levels of service.

Companies such as Business Post, Express Dairies and Deutsche Post already deliver letters in the UK, but their services are limited to bulk business mail. From next year, license holders will be able to target a wider range of customers and offer more services, such as dedicated collection boxes and specified delivery areas. Postcomm has already granted a long-term postal license to Mail Plus, owned by La Poste of France, and others are thought to be waiting in the wings. The parcel delivery market is already fully liberalised.

Nissan and BMW announce major new investments
Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK has announced plans to build a new compact-crossover car model, codenamed the P32L, at its plant in Sunderland, North East England. Production of the car, which will be based on the Qashqai concept show unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show last year, is scheduled to begin in December 2006, with an initial output of around 130,000 units a year. It will be part-people carrier and part-hatchback, and will feature four-wheel drive. Another new model, based on the Tone model introduced at the Paris Motor Show in the autumn, is due to go into production at Sunderland in January 2006. Two further models, the Navara Crew Cab pick-up and the Zaroot concept SUV, are due to be unveiled in Geneva this March.

The latest investment is worth $420 million, including a Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant of $9 million from the DTI, and was won in the face of stiff competition from rival Nissan facilities in France. It will boost annual production at the plant, the largest and most efficient in Europe, to 400,000 units, safeguarding 1,000 jobs and creating an additional 200. Over the past 20 years, the Japanese car giant has created 4,500 jobs at its Sunderland plant, together with a further 7,000 in the North East supply chain.

The iconic Mini, voted European ‘Car of the Century’ by an international panel, sells in 73 countries. In 2004, some 40,000 were sold in the UK and 36,000 in the US, while Germany, Japan, Italy and China are also important markets. The latest announcement brings BMW’s total investment in the UK (including at its Rolls-Royce plant at Goodwood, Surrey) to $1.3 billion since 2000.

US-owned company BorgWarner meanwhile has won a multi-million-dollar contract to produce 4WD units for a new Audi SUV model, and will create more than 30 new jobs at its plant in Margam, South Wales. This comes shortly after it won another major contract to supply Fiat General Motors Powertrain (FGP) with synchroniser components for manual transmissions. Both contracts are critical for the company’s drive into the manual transmission components and 4WD markets in Europe.

Total car production in the UK in the final quarter of 2004, seasonally adjusted, fell by 0.1 per cent, though production for the domestic market increased by 3.4 per cent. The total number of cars produced for the export market reached record levels for the year as a whole, reaching nearly 1.2 million units, up 3.1 per cent year-on-year. Production for the home market declined to just over 467,000 units, bringing the total for the year to 1,179, 753, a marginal decrease of 0.7 per cent from 2003.

Total commercial vehicle production for the final quarter, not seasonally adjusted, rose by 1.6 per cent when compared with the same period a year earlier. Production allocated for the export market rose by 16.8 per cent, while production for the home market fell by 17.2 per cent. For the year, production was up 10.8 per cent to 209,293 units. Again, growth was strongest in the export market, rising 24.5 per cent to 128,107 vehicles.


New plans on the drawing-board
Headline rents and inducements in the Central London office market remained largely unchanged during the final quarter of 2004, according to DTZ Research’s latest survey. Rentals in the City remained at $85.5 per sq ft, with three years of a 15-year lease offered free. In the West End, prime rents were static at $118.75 per sq ft. The total volume of space marketed in the final quarter fell marginally, reducing the availability ratio across Central London from 12.9 per cent to 12.6 per cent. Take-up rose from 3.6 million sq ft in the third quarter to 4.2 million sq ft in the fourth, bringing the total for the year to 13.7 million sq ft. Known requirements at the end of Q4 were 5.3 million sq ft, 10 per cent less than at the end of Q3. Construction starts for the quarter totalled 0.6 million sq ft but, as projects reached completion, the total amount of space under construction fell to 5.4 million sq ft, 40 per cent of which was speculative.

Outside London, many different types of business accommodation are in the development pipeline. Some 150,000 sq ft of new space is to be developed at Brooklands Industrial Estate at Weybridge in Surrey, South East England, near the site of a planned 148-acre development scheme by Mercedes-Benz that will incorporate the remains of the historic Brooklands racing track. In the South West, a 600,000 sq ft business park has been approved at Paignton in South Devon. The 42-acre Long Road development will be one of the largest in the West Country for a decade and is likely to include offices, hotels and retail facilities.

In Milton Keynes, Eastern England, work is due to start on a continental-style business district that will include offices, hotels, restaurants and apartments, all set around a central square. The $380 million Central Business Exchange III (CBX 3) development will rise to 14 storeys and will include 50,000 sq ft of office accommodation, together with conference facilities. The 5.8-acre site, on Midsummer Boulevard and Witan Gate at the western edge of the city centre, is five minutes’ walk from the town’s railway station and will be linked to the existing CBX1 and CBX2 developments, which contain offices, shops and leisure facilities.

Witan Gate view of CBX3, Milton Keynes

Two new business developments have been approved in the Blyth Valley in Northumberland, North East England. Four business units suitable for a range of uses, providing total space of 43,000 sq ft, will be built at the Kitty Brewster Industrial Estate in Blyth, on a 3-acre site that has close links to the town’s Riverside Industrial Estates. At the Nelson Industrial Estate in Cramlington, a new development catering for companies from sectors including the manufacturing, IT and service industries will create 26,900 sq ft of space.

In the North West, two towns – Blackpool and Salford – are to get their own Urban Regeneration Companies (URCs). In Blackpool, a masterplan is being drawn up to revitalise the attractions of this venerable seaside resort and transform it into an international visitor destination. Conference facilities, casinos and retail developments are among the plans on the drawing-board. In Central Salford, planners hope to transform the town into one of the most vibrant areas in the North West economy. A new, speculative 154,000 sq ft landmark office building is already earmarked for the popular Salford Quays area. Rentals for the Regent development will be marketed at around $38 per sq ft.

In Dundee, Scotland, $95 million will be injected over the next ten years into the Seabraes Yards project, which will transform the site of a former railway goods yard into a dynamic business environment for the creative media industries. The first major project on the 20-acre site, already well under way, involves the redevelopment of a landmark building into a creative media centre that will offer up to 100,000 sq ft of space. Further developments will include office space, private housing and student accommodation.

The Welsh Development Agency (WDA) is to help fund the construction of nearly 400,000 sq ft of new business premises in West Wales and the Valleys, designed to accommodate 1,400 new jobs. The development has been made possible by $15.6 million of new European Objective One funding, which is intended to regenerate less prosperous areas by helping businesses to establish themselves there. Also in South Wales, a new speculative office building of 90,000 sq ft is to be built in the capital Cardiff. The development is at Callaghan Square (formerly Bute Square), where developers have already built 140,000 sq ft of office space and have planning permission for a further 420,000 sq ft.


Broadband market continues to grow
Between December 2003 and December 2004 there was a 3.1 per cent increase in the number of active subscriptions to the internet, according to the latest survey of internet service providers (ISPs). The market share for permanent connections continued to increase, reaching 39.4 per cent of all new connections, compared with 21.9 per cent a year before. The number of new dial-up connections continued to decline, falling in December by 20.1 per cent year-on-year. Overall, dial-up still accounts for the majority of connections, though its market share has now fallen to 60.6 per cent, as the number of new broadband, cable and leased line connections continues to increase.

British Telecom plans to double broadband speeds for up to 90 per cent of its business and domestic customers at no extra cost, following a similar move by its rival AOL. The service provided to many domestic customers has already been upgraded to handle download speeds of 2Mbps, and similar improvements will follow for business customers from 1 April. Usage allowances vary from 1Gb to 30Gb a month, depending on the package purchased. BT has seen its share of the increasingly competitive broadband market eroded in recent months, from 39 per cent to 36 per cent, as AOL and other rivals – including Plusnet and UK Online – have enhanced their offerings.


London celebrates links with Chinese investors
More than 450 business leaders, entrepreneurs and opinion formers, including Chinese Ambassador Zha Peixin, attended the biggest ever event held in London for the Chinese business community. The gathering, which took place in early February at the Victoria and Albert Museum and was hosted by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, Think London (London’s inward investment agency) and UK Trade & Investment, was intended to celebrate the growing importance of trade and investment links, and also cultural links, between the UK and China.

China is the fastest-growing economy in the world. The UK is the biggest European investor in China and, conversely, is the largest European recipient of Chinese FDI, accounting for 50 per cent of the total since 1997. Chinese businesses account for a third of all investment into the UK from the Asia-Pacific region, and London accounts for one-third of all Chinese investment, with many Chinese firms choosing to set up their headquarters in a city they consider a gateway to the UK and the rest of Europe. There are now more than 250 Chinese businesses in the capital, from both the mainland and Hong Kong, and London’s Chinese community numbers over 80,000 people.

Think London’s free consultancy service has helped more than 30 Chinese firms to set up or expand in the capital, including Shanghai General Electronics Group, PetroChina International, telecoms equipment manufacturer ZTE and Hong Kong-based food retailer Glo Group. “London was chosen as the most beneficial city in which to expand and to reach other European countries, and benefit from London’s standing as a world city,” commented Bingjun Si, managing director of PetroChina. China Telecom, the country’s largest fixed-line operator, has recently established a European HQ in London to target international business across the continent.

Think London is now planning to open offices in Beijing and Shanghai to help secure further Chinese inward investment. It is also launching an incubator service for new Chinese arrivals in the capital. The Touchdown London initiative provides a package of services that includes legal, visa and recruitment advice, office space, Wi-Fi access, networking and multilingual support.


Around the regions
Work on a $13.3 million e-Innovation Centre in Telford in the West Midlands is set for completion by the end of May, with the building ready for occupation in July. The landmark centre, at the University of Wolverhampton campus in Priorslee, will provide start-up premises and grow-on space for companies involved in high-tech businesses, such as e-commerce and e-engineering. Meanwhile, Telford Development Agency has produced a new promotional CD for potential investors, containing a wealth of information about the town. Telformation also contains interviews with major investors, old and new; more information at: www.cometotelford.co.uk.

RDA Yorkshire Forward has announced a $17.1 million funding package that will provide businesses in North Yorkshire and the Humber region with free training for their staff. The Employer Training Programme (ETP), managed by the Learning and Skills Council, is being launched in April a year early, before the government rolls the scheme out nationally in 2006. Branded ‘train2gain’, it has already been piloted in parts of Yorkshire. It provides free training in the workplace in any job-related area up to NVQ Level 2 and, for companies with 250 employees or fewer, will even pay part of their wages while they are training.

The Corus steelworks at Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Humber, is to rebuild one of its four giant blast furnaces at a cost of $43.7 million. The 50-year-old Queen Victoria furnace, capable of producing 24,000 tonnes of iron ore a week, will be rebuilt to run at full capacity from April to October, along with its three sister ‘Queens’, with the intention of building up steel stocks. The investment comes on top of $83.6 million already earmarked this year to make the Scunthorpe steelworks the best in Europe.

The Metals Forum, the recently formed umbrella organisation for the UK metals sector, has launched its website at: www.metalsforum.org. One of the body’s aims is to make information about the $72.2 billion industry more readily accessible, to both industry and the public. In Yorkshire and Humber, Yorkshire Forward has published a new guide to help chemical companies improve their public image. The free guide, Chemicals and the Community, gives examples of how companies can work with local residents and schools, government and the media. Contact: lucy.fountain@yorkshire-forward.com.

HCC Insurance Holdings, based in Houston, Texas, is to acquire the remaining 66 per cent interest it does not already own in the De Montfort Group, based in Leicester in the East Midlands. The De Montfort Group, which provides surety and credit card insurance to small and medium-sized companies, will become part of the HCC Surety Group.

Holcim, a Swiss supplier of cement, aggregates, concrete and construction services, is to acquire Aggregate Industries, based in Markfield in the East Midlands, for around $3.4 billion. Aggregate Industries is a major producer of primary, secondary and recycled construction aggregates, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete and pre-cast concrete products. It also operates a national contracting business, giving Holcim entry into the attractive UK market.

Irish-owned Xtratherm (UK) Ltd, part of the Hytherm Group, is to invest $13.3 million in a new manufacturing facility at Holmewood Industrial Park near Chesterfield in the East Midlands. The company will manufacture insulation products for the construction industry at the 220,000 sq ft facility, beginning this summer, and the project will create 95 new jobs over the next few years. The investment was supported by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda), which contributed a grant worth $1.9 million.

Renewable energy specialist Airtricity, based in Dublin, is to develop a $19 million wind farm on Bessy Bell Mountain, situated between Omagh and Strabane in Northern Ireland. The Irish company began developing the project in 2001; when it is fully operational, its nine 1.3MW turbines will produce 11.7MW of electricity – enough to power 9,000 homes. It is estimated that the project will save the release of 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year into the atmosphere, equivalent to the output of 700 cars.

Caterpillar, the US manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, is to open a new shared financial services centre in Larne, Northern Ireland. The centre, which will create 25 new jobs over the next three years, will provide a central service for the thousands of transactions – such as invoicing, credit control and treasury – involved in the running of Caterpillar Group companies across Europe. Invest Northern Ireland supported the investment with a selective financial assistance grant of $418,000.

Silverpop, a US-based provider of e-mail marketing solutions, has opened a European office in London. The company helps its clients to maximise the potential of e-mail when dealing with customers and partners, and is looking to capitalise on the explosive growth of online marketing in the UK. Mail-Filters.com, a US-based provider of anti-spam technology, has opened an office in London to cover the EMEA region. Based in San Mateo, California, the company supplies its proprietary technology in more than 100 countries worldwide, and in more than 30 languages.

Another US company, Logo Design Works, an internet-based design shop headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, has opened an office in London and established an online presence (at www.logodesignworks.co.uk). The company’s designers work with clients on a one-to-one basis, offering advice on building their brands both online and offline.

Landsbanki Holdings (UK), a subsidiary of financial institution Landsbanki of Iceland, has made a cash offer of around $81 million for London-based stockbroker Teather & Greenwood. The British firm provides a fully integrated service to smaller and expanding companies, spanning corporate finance, equities research, institutional sales and market-making. It is reported to have raised more than $665 million for clients over the past three years.

US conglomerate Cargill, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has started trading electricity and gas from a new office in London. After setting up its power trading business in Geneva, Switzerland in 2000, Cargill now markets, trades and distributes natural gas throughout Europe.

A new six-times-a-week air service has been launched from London City Airport to Bern and Lugano in Switzerland. The weekday service, operated by Darwin Airlines and using Saab 2000 turboprop aircraft, will connect with an existing service between Lugano and Rome.

US pharmaceutical company Allergan is to move its European R&D centre from Sophia Antipolis in southern France to High Wycombe in South East England. The company, based in Irvine, California, is a global healthcare company whose markets include eyecare and skincare products.

US semiconductor manufacturer Ramtron has opened a European sales office in Bracknell, South East England and is to enlarge its regional sales and customer service staff. The company, based in Colorado Springs, supplies non-volatile ferroelectric semiconductors, including serial and parallel FRAM (ferroelectric random access memory) chips and processor companion devices.

BCS Global Networks, a Canadian provider of managed internet protocol (IP) communications services, has opened a business unit in Brighton on the south coast. BCS supplies IP-based voice, video and data services to organisations across north America and Europe. Meanwhile ChoicePoint, a US-based provider of identification verification services, is to acquire i2, a developer of visual investigative and link analysis software. Software from i2, which is based in Cambridge in Eastern England, is used by intelligence and law enforcement agencies around the world.

Swedish lock group Assa Abloy is to acquire specialist door supplier Doorman Services, based in South Shields, North East England, for around $11 million. Doorman installs and services manual and automatic doors and roller blinds throughout the UK. It employs 170 people and has a strong presence in the retail sector.

Nisai Group, a UK-based learning and educational company, is relocating a part of its business previously based in India to Middlesbrough, North East England, reversing the recent offshoring trend among British companies. The company, which provides live interactive teaching through a Virtual Academy, grew frustrated after losing highly trained graduates to other companies operating in India. It will create 30 jobs initially at its new Riverside Park base, and expects this to grow to 120 over the next three years.

US-based technology integrator Avanade, a joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture, has opened an office in Edinburgh, Scotland, creating 50 highly skilled jobs. The company, which specialises in Microsoft products, helps companies around the world to maximise their IT investment. Last financial year, it saw its business in the UK grow by 181 per cent.

US computer giant Dell is to expand its UK operation – its second largest outside the US – with a new customer sales and support office at City Park in Glasgow, Scotland. The centre will support medium and large business customers, as well as public sector users. It will create an initial 400 new jobs by 2006, and around 850 in total by 2008. Dell’s investment was supported by an RSA grant of $14.3 million from the Scottish government, whose First Minister Jack McConnell welcomed the expansion, saying: “We have the skills, we have the innovation and, above all, we have the confidence and the hunger for success.”

Citiraya Recycling Technology, part of the Citiraya Group of Singapore and one of the world’s leaders in the field of ‘e-waste’, has opened a $1.9 million recycling plant at Hirwaun in South Wales. The 35,000 sq ft plant will allow manufacturers of TV sets and computer monitors to comply with strict new European Union directives on recycling, using laser cutting technology to separate and recycle elements in cathode tubes for re-use – one of the first facilities in the UK with this capability. The plant, the first of a series Citiraya plans to open across Europe, will be capable of handling 500,000 cathode ray tubes a year, or about 5 per cent of the UK’s annual total of redundant tubes. It will employ 70 people.

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