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UK bucks global
trend with large rise in FDI
The UK’s stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) rose by $163 billion
from 2003 to 2004, growing from $609 billion to $772 billion, according to
the latest report from UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Investment. This represented an increase of 27 per cent year-on-year and
accounted for 39 per cent of the total increase of investment into Europe.
Inflows of FDI to the UK amounted to $78 billion for the year.
Total inbound investment to the European Union increased by $417 billion
over the year, according to the Geneva-based organisation. The UK remained
the top EU destination for overseas investment, ahead of France with $535
billion, Germany ($348 billion) and Spain ($347 billion). It was the
second highest worldwide, after the US. Worldwide, FDI inflows in 2004
reached $648 billion, 2 per cent higher than in 2003. This marked a slight
recovery from three years of declining flows. The US maintained its
position as the leading recipient of FDI globally, followed by the UK and
China.
While FDI flows to many developing countries declined in 2004, the US and
the UK both bucked the trend, due to high levels of cross-border mergers
and acquisitions. M&A deals involving UK companies saw UK companies worth
$58 billion sold, while purchases by UK companies totalled $476 billion.
The biggest single deal was the acquisition of the UK’s Abbey National
bank by Santander Central Hispano of Spain, which was valued at $16
billion.
Ranked by foreign assets, General Electric of the US was the world’s top
non-financial multinational corporation in 2003, followed by Vodafone of
the UK. British Petroleum (BP) was at number five, while the Anglo-Dutch
Royal Dutch/Shell Group ranked seventh. UNCTAD was optimistic that
prospects for worldwide FDI growth appeared to be favourable for 2005.
UK still
more competitive than rival EU economies…
Another report, from the World Economic Forum, shows the UK maintaining
its levels of competitiveness in relation to the other leading EU
economies. The Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006 ranks the UK the
13th most competitive country in the world, compared with Germany at 15th,
Ireland at 26th, Spain, France and Belgium at 29th, 20th and 31st
respectively, and Italy down in 47th place. The top country in the 2005
index is Finland, for the third year running. It is followed by the US in
second place, and then Sweden, Denmark and Taiwan. The rest of the top ten
consists of Singapore, Iceland, Switzerland, Norway and Australia, which
are followed by the Netherlands and Japan.
The World Economic Forum has been producing its Growth Competitive Index (GCI)
for 26 years. The survey is compiled from publicly available data and,
this year, from the responses of 11,000 business leaders in 117 economies
worldwide. It takes account of a range of business factors likely to
affect a country’s economic growth, including its macroeconomic
environment, the quality of its public institutions and the level of its
technological readiness and innovation.
The Nordic countries once again scored highly due to their healthy
macroeconomic environments and efficient and transparent public
institutions. The US retains overall technological supremacy and a
powerful culture of innovation, but it scored less well in areas such as
the awarding of government contracts and the formulation of policy. Its
biggest weakness, however, was its macroeconomic environment, which ranked
a lowly 47th in the world.
Other European countries turning in a strong performance this year,
relative to the overall size of their economies, included Ireland, Estonia
and Poland. The biggest loser was Greece, which slid from 37th position
last year to 46th. The emerging economies of China and India ranked 49th
and 50th respectively, with China falling three places and India moving up
five to narrow the gap on its rival.
… and a
better place to do business
The UK remains in the top ten best countries in the world in which to do
business, according to another survey. Doing Business in 2006: Creating
Jobs, compiled by the World Bank and the International Finance
Corporation, shows the UK has slipped from seventh to ninth place on
account of heavier tax and regulatory burdens, but that it still
outperforms competitors such as Ireland (11th place), Germany (19th), the
Netherlands (24th), Spain (30th) and France (44th).
New Zealand has the most business-friendly regulation in the world,
according to the report, followed by Singapore, the US, Canada, Norway,
Australia, Hong Kong and Denmark. The survey was based on the regulations
that govern key business procedures, such as starting a company, obtaining
licenses, hiring and firing, registering property, getting credit,
protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders and enforcing
contracts. Being business-friendly does not mean that a country lacks
regulation; all of the top-performing countries regulate business, but do
so in less costly and burdensome ways. Most have simple regulations that
allow businesses to be productive, but which intervene when required to
protect property rights and to provide social services.
London
retains top slot as European business city
Once again London has emerged as the best city in Europe in which to do
business, according to property consultant Cushman & Wakefield Healey &
Baker’s annual European Cities Monitor survey. For the 16th consecutive
year, the UK capital topped the poll of 30 leading European business
cities, extending its lead over its closest rival Paris. Both cities are
well ahead of the nearest contenders, Frankfurt and Brussels.
The survey was based on the views of senior managers and board directors
of 500 leading European companies, and covered 12 wide-ranging categories.
London was considered the best in five of the 12 categories: ease of
access to markets, availability of qualified staff, external transport
links, quality of telecommunications and the range of languages spoken. It
also scored highly in terms of available office space, internal transport
and overall business climate. The survey showed an increase in the number
of companies planning to locate in London over the next five years.
According to the executives polled, the most significant factor facing
Europe over the next ten years was the emergence of China and India.
While most businesses would not
locate to a city simply because it was hosting a particular sporting or
cultural event, 56 per cent of managers said that the Summer Olympics was
the event likely to have the best impact on a city’s overall profile.
London’s preparations for the 2012 Games are making good progress, with
the official establishment of the London Organising Committee of the
Olympic Games (LOCOG). The new body, chaired by Lord Coe, will occupy
office space at Canary Wharf in the capital’s Docklands district, close to
the planned site of the Olympic Park. The Games are expected to raise the
profile of east London and to encourage substantial new investment in the
area.
Durham named
best university in Sunday Times survey
Durham University, in the city of Durham in North East England, has been
named University of the Year in the Sunday Times University Guide 2005.
The newspaper made the selection to recognise the university’s “consistent
excellence that makes its academics respected the world over and its
students sought after in an increasingly crowded graduate jobs market”. It
has been in the top 20 of the survey in each of the eight years it has
been published and has consistently improved its rankings.
Durham came eighth overall this year on a list of performance indicators,
judged on the views of students and the head teachers of the UK’s leading
schools. This is the first year that the subjective views of teachers and
students have been included in the survey. Head teachers ranked the
university highly across 30 different subjects, while the 72.5 per cent
satisfaction rating among students was higher than those of the other top
ten institutions in the overall league table. Among the university’s
strengths is top-quality international research in applied mathematics,
chemistry, English, geography, history, law and accounting and finance.
The top-ranking university overall
was Cambridge, followed by Oxford in second place. They were followed by
three London institutions – Imperial College, the London School of
Economics and University College London. The rest of the top ten was
rounded out by the universities of Warwick, York, Bristol and Bath. Also
shortlisted for University of the Year were Bath, East Anglia, Hull and
Loughborough. The best new university was Oxford Brookes and the best
higher education college was Queen Margaret University College. Edinburgh
was the best Scottish university, while Cardiff took the honours in Wales.
Another survey, the Royal Bank of Scotland Student Living Index, ranks the
University of Dundee as the most cost-effective place to study in
Scotland. The index ranks major university towns by the cost of living for
students, plotting housing and living costs against income from term-time
employment. Dundee, which has 18,000 students, has in the past been ranked
number one in the UK for teaching quality, while its graduates earn some
of the highest salaries outside London and Oxbridge. The city of Dundee is
home to many science and R&D-based companies and promotes itself as the
‘City of Learning’.
Additional funding
to support science initiatives
A total of $113.4 million is being made available to businesses in the UK
this autumn under the latest round of the government’s $666 million
technology programme. Businesses are being urged to exploit emerging
technologies and to take ideas out of the lab and into the market place,
to drive forward innovation and to ensure the UK’s competitiveness in an
increasingly global economy. The government has set a target of increasing
the UK’s R&D density, as a percentage of GDP, to 2.5 per cent by 2014, and
the funding is intended to support collaborative R&D projects is six
priority areas that will help to achieve this aim.
The priority areas are regenerative medicine technologies; energy,
including low-carbon and oil and gas; design of electrical and electronic
control and power systems; materials modelling; data and content storage;
and waste minimisation and resource efficiency. The sum of $18 million has
been allocated to each of these sectors, except for energy, which will
benefit from $23.4 million. The funding is allocated by competition, which
formally opens on 24 November, and there will be a series of regional
information days around the UK to help companies with the application
process. Further information at: www.dti.gov.uk/technologyprogramme.
Another government initiative to support science, the Faraday
Partnerships, is being reorganised, with 19 partnerships being transferred
to a new $72 million business support scheme known as Knowledge Transfer
Networks (KTN). The new KTNs will build on the successful Faraday model,
which encouraged industry and academia to work together to bring new
products and processes to market. Seventeen KTNs have been identified
covering a wide range of sectors, including aerospace and defence, grid
computing, chemicals, pollution management, food processing, sensors,
biotechnology and photonics. A further four are under consideration.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has provided $10.8 million from
its Large Facilities Capital Fund to improve infrastructure at the CCLRC
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, South East England. The
funding will provide upgraded security and power supplies for the Diamond
synchrotron facility and the ISIS Second Target Station, both currently
under construction, and will also be used for a proposed new research
complex and accommodation for visiting scientists. The Council for the
Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC ) is providing
additional funding.
A bio-accelerator is to be built at Kent Science Park in South East
England to help attract new businesses to the area. The facility, on the
outskirts of Sittingbourne, will be housed in 20,000 sq ft of refurbished
space and is expected to be completed by mid-2006. It will provide
accommodation for more than 40 businesses, with labs ranging in size from
150 sq ft to 500 sq ft. Kent Science Park is supported by the Bio-Hatchery
unit of the Canterbury Enterprise Hub, based at the University of Kent,
and the Sittingbourne Enterprise Hub.
A $1.8 million optical polishing machine has been installed at Technium
OpTIC, based at St Asaph Business Park in Denbighshire, North Wales. The
machine, the only one of its kind in the world, will allow scientists to
shape and polish optical segments of up to one metre in diameter, for use
in the next generation of deep-space telescopes. Hundreds, and possibly
thousands, of such segments will be needed for projects such as the
European ‘Extremely Large Telescope’. The machine will also be able to
create and polish other complex shapes, opening up applications in areas
such as defence optics, aerospace (turbines), medical (e.g. artificial
knee joints) and semiconductors.
Biotech companies
inject fresh funding into growing sector
The UK’s buoyant biotechnology and pharmaceuticals sectors continue to
attract overseas investors. Gilead Sciences Inc, based in California and
the third largest biotechnology company by market capitalisation, is to
relocate its European headquarters from Paris to London. Gilead is a
leader in the development and commercialisation of therapies to treat
disease such as HIV and hepatitis. The company is currently in a phase of
rapid growth, driven by the success of its antiretroviral therapies. It
will move its 35-strong European staff, including medical, legal, finance
and marketing functions, to offices at Stockley Park, near Heathrow
Airport.
The US biotech group Genzyme, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
has opened its first dedicated European research centre in Cambridge,
Eastern England. The decision to locate R&D facilities outside the US is a
significant move for Genzyme, and signals its belief in the importance of
the UK both as a centre of innovation and as a growing market. It is part
of a $540 million initiative to boost Genzyme’s presence in Europe. The
new unit, Genzyme Europe Research, will focus on new and emerging antibody
technologies in cancer and in renal, inflammatory and immune-mediated
diseases. Cambridge and the surrounding area is recognised as a world
centre for the biotech, pharmaceutical and other science-based industries.
Another Massachusetts-based biotech company, OXiGENE, has opened an office
at Oxford Science Park in South East England. OXiGENE develops
biopharmaceutical compounds to treat cancer and certain eye diseases, and
is currently clinically testing a drug called CA4P, one of a new class of
drugs that it terms vascular disrupting agents (VDAs). These attack the
vascular structure of solid tumours and other diseases involving aberrant
blood vessels. The company plans to hire research staff to work closely
with collaborators and clinical trial sites across Europe.
Asterand, a Detroit-based company involved in human tissue supply and
services, is to merge with Pharmagene, a drug discovery company working
with human tissue, based in Royston in Eastern England. The combined
company will offer a tissue supply network of more than 70 sites in the
UK, the US and Western and Eastern Europe, together with a bio-repository
containing some 300,000 tissue samples. Also in Eastern England, Galapagos
NV, a genomics-based biotechnology company from Belgium, is to acquire
BioFocus plc, an integrated drug discovery company based in Saffron
Walden, Essex. The deal is worth around $36 million, and is a significant
step in Galapagos’s aim of becoming a fully integrated drug discovery
company.
A leading Japanese biopharma company, Sosei Co Ltd, has combined its
business with Arakis Ltd, a UK biopharmaceutical company based near
Cambridge. The transaction moves Sosei closer to its ambition of being a
global top ten biopharmaceutical company. The enlarged group will have a
broad pipeline of late- and early-stage products, a significant cash
balance and regulatory capabilities in the EU, US and Japan. Among the
other assets Arakis brings to Sosei are a $375 million global partnership
with Novartis for its lead product AD 237, an inhaler used to treat
pulmonary disease, and three further products (for treating cancer,
rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia) at the clinical trial stage.
Meanwhile Astellas, Japan’s second largest pharmaceutical company, has
recently established its European headquarters at Staines in South East
England.
Nestor Pharmaceuticals of India is to establish a manufacturing facility
at a seven-acre site at Mildenhall in Eastern England, creating up to 80
jobs. The company produces a range of own-brand products, including
tablets, capsules, injections, ointments, creams, dry syrups and eye- and
ear-drops. It will mass-produce a variety of generic medicines at the
site, targeting first the UK, then European markets. It plans a floatation
next year to help fund its international expansion.
The University of Dundee in Scotland is to host a new drug screening
facility, a joint project with the universities of Glasgow and St Andrews.
The Scottish Facility for Compound Screening and Library Synthesis will
allow drugs to be tested against a library of up to 100,000 chemicals, and
will help to develop drugs against infectious diseases, allergies,
diabetes and cancer.
A University of Dundee researcher, Dr Dario Alessi of the Medical Research
Council (MRC) Protein Phosphorylation Unit, has been awarded the EMBO Gold
Medal. The medal is awarded annually to a young European researcher for
outstanding contributions to life sciences research, and Dr Alessi has
been recognised for his landmark work in cell signalling. His pioneering
research into enzymes known as kinases and their role in inherited disease
has provided new insights into conditions such as cancer, diabetes and
hypertension. He received his award, together with a bursary of $12,000,
at a ceremony held in Warsaw, Poland in October.
Ford to expand
diesel engine production at Dagenham
Ford Motor Company is to launch two new families of diesel engines in a
joint venture with PSA Peugeot Citroën. One of the engines, a 2.2-litre
commercial model for the Ford Transit van and Peugeot Citroën’s new light
commercial vehicles, is being built at Ford’s advanced engine plant at
Dagenham, Essex in Eastern England. Production started in October, with
annual output of the engines set at 200,000 units a year. Peugeot Citroën
will build a similar number at its plant in Moselle, France. The two
companies have been jointly designing and developing engines for the past
seven years and, in that time, have produced more than 7 million units.
Ford will invest $360 million in the Dagenham plant to produce the new
engines. The move will make Dagenham Ford’s biggest engine producer:
together with the company’s plant at Bridgend in South Wales, it will turn
out one in four of all Ford engines worldwide. Ford plans to invest a
further $304 million at Dagenham to produce high-tech 1.4- and 1.6-litre
engines from 2007, again in partnership with PSA Peugeot Citroën. That
will bring its total investment in the Essex plant to $990 million since
2003.
Lear Corporation of the US, a leading automotive supplier, is to build a
new factory in Sunderland, North East England in a joint venture with
Japanese automotive seating company Tachi-S. The new venture, which will
create 250 jobs, will be known as Tacle Seating (UK) and will manufacture
seats, harnesses and air-conditioning units, which will be supplied to the
nearby plant of Nissan Motors (UK). Lear has taken over a former Lucas
Sumitomo factory on a site at Rainton Bridge North. The 129,000 sq ft
plant is due to open in the first quarter of 2006.
Energy initiatives
boost development of renewables sector
The government has approved plans for a new wind farm on Walland Marsh in
Kent, South East England, following a public enquiry. Little Cheyne Court
farm, to be built by Npower Renewables, will have 26 turbines capable of
generating enough electricity to power 32,000 homes. The go-ahead has also
been given for German energy service provider E.ON to build a $160 million
biomass power station at Lockerbie in Scotland. The 44MW facility will be
the UK’s largest dedicated biomass station, and is scheduled to come on
stream at the end of 2007. E.ON says it will generate enough power to
supply 70,000 homes, displacing 140,000 tonnes a year of greenhouse gases
that would have been emitted to produce the same amount of energy from
fossil fuels. The project is expected to create 300 jobs.
A new centre has opened at the University of Hull in Yorkshire and Humber
that will give local businesses access to leading-edge research into
environmentally friendly technologies. The Environmental Technologies
Centre of Industrial Collaboration is part of RDA Yorkshire Forward’s $20
million Centres of Industrial Collaboration (CICS) programme, which aims
to establish a world-class scientific, technical and research resource for
the region. Yorkshire and Humber has 14 CICs across a range of industries,
which have worked with businesses on more than 850 projects. Yorkshire
Forward estimates that the region has 450 firms in the environmental
technologies sector, employing 13,000 people and contributing some $3.2
billion a year to its economy.
In Scotland, meanwhile, the new Abertay Centre for the Environment has
been formally opened at the University of Abertay in Dundee. The centre
will help SMEs to produce new and more environmentally friendly products
and services.
New centres to
provide focus for software and creative companies
In the software sector, a new Technium centre has opened at Parc Menai in
Bangor, North Wales to act as a hub for the region’s growing technology
industry. Technium CAST (Centre for Advanced Software Technology) will
cater for sophisticated visualisation, communications and software
development by new and growing enterprises. It will provide 70,000 sq ft
of space for laboratories, offices, a 3D visualisation studio and other
facilities, and will have high-capacity broadband links. The initiative is
being jointly undertaken by the Welsh Development Agency and private
facilities management company Serco, which is sub-contracting specialist
elements to the School of Informatics at the University of Wales, Bangor.
The project is expected to create 520 jobs within the software sector.
Creative companies based in and around Derby in the East Midlands are set
to receive a major boost with the confirmation of two major new projects.
A new centre for fledgling creative businesses – such as graphic design,
music production, film-making and computer game companies – is to be
established on the site of a former nursery on Ford Street. Funding of $3
million has been agreed for the project, which is scheduled to open by
spring next year. The centre will have office or studio space for 40
businesses, plus broadband communications, meeting rooms and a café. Many
graduates of Derby University go into the creative industries, and the
scheme’s backers will also be encouraging regional arts-based
organisations to set up there.
Space for creative businesses will also be available at Derby’s new Quad
development, a $17.6 million centre for the creative arts. The new centre,
on Corporation Street, will house workshop space and business units, along
with two cinema screens, galleries and studios, a 60-seat media lounge and
education and meeting rooms. Construction will take a little over two
years, with the centre due to open in early 2008. Meanwhile a website for
the region’s creative sector – www.shout.out.info – has been revamped to
provide an online community, including all the latest news, events, job
ads and a creative directory. It is estimated that there are 12,000
companies in 17 different creative disciplines across the East Midlands
region.
Irish e-learning company ThirdForce has acquired Creative Learning Media (CLM),
a specialist e-learning firm based in Somerset, South West England, for
around $9.7 million. ThirdForce offers education on computer and internet
technology through its Electric Paper Company, and the acquisition will
expand its range of e-learning categories.
SeaChange International, a provider of television-on-demand services based
in Maynard, Massachusetts, has taken control of London-based On Demand
Group (ODG), after acquiring the 72 per cent of the company it did not
already own for about $13.4 million in cash. ODG is now a wholly owned
subsidiary of SeaChange. The company is an aggregator of TV content,
providing films and other programmes for on-demand and pay-per-view
services across Europe. Meanwhile, Limelight Networks, an Arizona-based
internet content delivery network, which distributes video, music, games
and downloads, has opened its European headquarters in London.
Regeneration the
theme of new office park developments
A rash of new development projects have been announced in the West
Midlands. In Birmingham city centre, regeneration plans include 66,000 sq
ft of new office space. A revised proposal includes an 11-storey office
tower in the Eastside area, overlooking the new City Park. Completion of
the $41.4 million project is scheduled for December 2007. Developers have
submitted detailed plans for a first phase of development at the 57-acre
Longbridge Technology Park, which is being created on the site of the
former MG Rover car plant. Two buildings totalling 77,700 sq ft are
planned on the former North Works car park, the largest being a 42,000 sq
ft business incubator unit.
RDA Advantage West Midlands has received approval to begin construction on
the 23-acre Bromsgrove Technology Park, and work on roads and services has
now begun. The park is a flagship project in the region’s Central
Technology Belt, which stretches from Birmingham to South Worcestershire,
and the first on which construction has started. Plots ranging from 0.75
acre to 5 acres in size are being marketed to owner-occupiers and
developers, and there are plans for a business incubator unit.
An ex-colliery site near Stoke-on-Trent has been identified as a prime
site for large industrial/distribution uses. Funding of $17.8 million has
been provided by English Partnerships’ National Coalfields Programme and
reclamation and infrastructure work has already begun at the 67.5-acre
Sideways Colliery site, which is a short distance from Junction 15 of the
M6. The redevelopment is expected to create 900 jobs by 2010.
Towers Business Park,
Staffordshire |
A 542,940 sq ft
warehouse/distribution unit is under construction at Prologis Park
Stafford, with completion due in the first quarter of 2006. The unit
is the largest of four speculative new buildings at the site, with
two further units of 127,200 sq ft and 69,900 sq ft to follow. At
Rugeley in Staffordshire, Advantage West Midlands is one of the
partners that have signed a deal to develop 40 acres at the Towers
Business Park. The 100-acre Towers development, another former
colliery site, is one of the region’s key regeneration sites. The
joint venture will see the creation of more than 500,000 sq ft of
office, industrial and warehouse space over the next two years,
along with an estimated 700 jobs. |
Around $7.2 million has been
earmarked for the first phase of development in the Chatterley Valley in
North Staffordshire, an ambitious scheme to transform 300 acres of
brownfield land into a high-tech business park. The 51-acre site at
Lowlands Road in Ravensdale will be developed for industrial and
distribution uses. A new regeneration scheme in the Shropshire town of
Craven Arms is due to be officially opened on 22 November. The office,
retail and residential development includes incubator units for SMEs
Elsewhere in the country, a wide
range of accommodation of 10,000 sq ft and above is currently available in
Doncaster in South Yorkshire. At the 120-acre Firstpoint Business Park,
plans include a 20,000 sq ft Trade Park and 20,000 sq ft of hybrid units,
525,000 sq ft of distribution space and a 20,000 sq ft starter block of
two-storey offices. Two speculative office buildings totalling 70,000 sq
ft are due for completion in January while tenants are moving into the
30,000 sq ft Icon development, which was completed earlier this year.
Building 200 and Building 300 are other office developments at Firstpoint,
while elsewhere in the town accommodation includes Business Homes and
Cirrus at Robin Hood Airport, The Village at Quest Park, Cavendish Court
at South Parade, Carolina Court at Lakeside, and Chase Park at Redhouse.
Five industrial units and 15 workshops are being developed at the Pitts
Cleave industrial estate near Tavistock in Devon, South West England. The
industrial units at the $4.3 million development will feature an
eco-friendly thermal energy heating system that draws heat from boreholes
drilled 250ft into the earth, while the workshops will be heated by a
woodchip burner. At Kings Hill in Kent, South East England, a 58,700 sq ft
office building is under construction near J7 of the M20. The two-story
building is the first of three developments planned at the 14-acre Eclipse
Park.
In the North West, construction has begun of the new Liverpool Arena and
Convention Centre, which will be one of the centrepieces of the city when
it becomes European City of Culture in 2008. The 26.3-acre site will
contain an arena with a capacity of 9,500, a 1,350-seat auditorium, a
multipurpose hall of 38,700 sq ft, exhibition space of 75,300 sq ft, 18
additional meeting rooms and a public piazza. An adjoining hotel will
cater for business and leisure visitors.
Around the
regions
French market research company Ipsos is to acquire the MORI Group, the
UK’s largest independently owned provider of market research, for around
$154.2 million. MORI, which has 460 employees, is based in London and also
has offices in Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast and Dublin. The two
companies will be merged to form a new entity named Ipsos MORI.
Nidec Corporation of Japan, a manufacturer of small precision motors and
fans, is to open an investor relations office in London, focusing on the
European market. Saxo Bank of Denmark also plans to open an office in the
capital in the near future, with a clear focus on the institutional
market.
US industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation, based in Cleveland, Ohio, is
to acquire the aerospace fluid and air division of Cobham plc for $270
million. Cobham produces equipment, systems and components for the
aerospace, defence, search and rescue and communications markets. Its
fluid and air division, based in Wimborne in Dorset, South West England,
includes FR-HiTEMP, which provides low-pressure airframe fuel systems, air
ducting and hydraulic and power generation, and Stanley Aviation, which
produces fluid distribution systems.
Teligent Ltd, a global telecoms supplier, has moved its UK headquarters to
Kings Hill, near Maidstone in South East England. The company, founded in
Sweden in 1990, serves clients such as BT, MCI, Cingular, SingTel and
Vodafone. It has 16 bases in 12 countries worldwide, and more than 300
employees. More than 50 employees will move to Kings Hill, as existing
offices at Rochester and Hemel Hempstead are consolidated.
Canadian seafood group FPI has acquired the Seafood Company, based in
Handcross in South East England, for around $32.3 million. The British
company operates through its units Anchor Seafoods and the Cromer Crab
Company, and imports and distributes a variety of chilled and frozen
shellfish. Its customers include the UK’s major retail chains.
Broadcom Corporation, based in Irvine, California, has opened an R&D
office in Cambridge in Eastern England. The company produces
semiconductors for wired and wireless broadband communications and its new
facility, located at Cambridge Science Park, will focus on R&D for its
mobile, wireless and broadband groups. It will employ 85 engineers, 20 per
cent of whom will be of PhD calibre.
A new industry group has been established to represent companies in the
glass industry based in the West Midlands. Glass West Midlands is
supported by the RDA Advantage West Midlands and will represent the 130
companies in the region involved in the design and manufacture of glass,
at regional, national and international levels. The region’s glass
industry is centred on Birmingham and the Black Country and forms part of
a High Value Consumer Products cluster, one of 12 industry clusters
identified for development and support. Other industries in the cluster
include carpets, ceramics, clothing, jewellery, furniture and leather
goods.
Asahi Glass, the Japanese glass and chemicals company, is to build a new
plant at its UK subsidiary Asahi Glass Fluoropolymers UK in Thornton
Cleveleys, Lancashire in North West England. The $26 million plant will
manufacture the fluorinated engineering resin ETFE, a material whose many
uses include insulation for electrical wires in cars, planes and robotics,
tubes for transporting specialised liquids and film for greenhouses.
Construction will begin in January and should be completed by January
2007. The new plant will increase the company’s ETFE production capacity
by about 20 per cent.
Novelis Inc, an aluminium rolled products and can recycling company based
in Atlanta, Georgia, has completed an investment of $2.5 million in
infrastructure at its plant in Warrington, North West England. The
investment boosts the plant’s capacity by 25 per cent; in the first nine
months of 2005 it recycled six billion used beverage cans.
Construction work has begun of the world’s largest polyethylene facility
at the Wilton International complex near Redcar on Teesside in North East
England. The Huntsman project will occupy a site of 35 acres and will
produce 400,000 tonnes of polyethylene a year when complete. Construction
is scheduled to take two years, with completion set for the fourth quarter
of 2007. The $360 million project is being supported by a government grant
of $29.7 million. Peter R Huntsman, president and CEO of the Huntsman
Corporation, took the controls of a mechanical digger to perform the
groundbreaking ceremony at the site.
Apeejay International Tea Ltd, a subsidiary of the Apeejay Surrendra Group
of India, is to acquire the tea business of Premier Foods, based in St
Albans, Eastern England for $140 million. The business includes the
well-known Typhoo brand, together with London Fruit & Herb, Lift and other
brands, own-label contracts and Premier’s tea blending and packing
facility at Moreton in North West England, which employs 249 people.
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