October 2007

NEWS

Inflation falls again, as manufacturers boost performance

Annual consumer price inflation fell in August to its lowest level in more than a year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The rate dipped to 1.8 per cent, the second consecutive month below the Bank of England’s target rate of 2 per cent, following a sharp fall to 1.9 per cent in July. The bank predicted in early September that inflation would remain at or below target in the coming months, and the latest figures reinforce the widely held view that interest rates have peaked at 5.75 per cent and could even fall if turmoil in the financial markets and the squeeze on credit continue. The Bank decided to keep interest rates on hold at the monthly meeting in September of its Monetary Policy Committee, to the relief of business leaders.

The largest downward effect on inflation in August came from reductions in the costs of financial services, as mortgage lenders cut exit fees to meet new guidelines. Retail price inflation (RPI), however, which is often used as a benchmark for wage negotiations, rose from 3.8 per cent to 4.1 per cent, largely due to mortgage lenders passing on the quarter-point increase in interest rates imposed in July.

The manufacturing sector recorded its strongest reading in over three years in August, with the Chartered Institute of Purchasing Managers index rising from 55.9 in July to 56.3, beating forecasts for a reading of 55.0. Another survey, by the EEF business group, showed that manufacturers recorded their best performance in more than ten years, with a positive balance of firms recording a rise in orders and output for the third quarter of 2007 at 30 per cent, the highest since early 1995.

The survey, produced by financial firm Grant Thornton, also found that domestic orders had overtaken export orders for the first time since the final quarter of 2002. The net balance of companies registering a growth in domestic orders increased from +8 per cent to +17 per cent, while exports grew from +10 per cent to +12 per cent. A balance of +9 per cent of firms also said that they were looking to take on additional staff. “Manufacturers are now enjoying a sustained period of growth and reaping the rewards of increasing their investment in skills and innovation. Long gone are the days when a strong currency and increases in interest rates would have stopped companies in their tracks,” said EEF chief economist Steve Radley.

Manufacturing accounts for around 14 per cent of GDP in the UK. Research by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) suggests that the sector is increasing its productivity, catching up on France and Germany and extending its lead on Japan. It says that improvement in UK manufacturing from 1999 onwards is attributable to changes in five key areas: investment, innovation, skills, enterprise and competition. UK investment in industry was the most consistent of all G7 countries, competition was the third highest globally and the entrepreneurial environment continued to be more business-friendly than in either France or Germany, with lower costs for starting up a business.
 

Car manufacturers driven by growing export demand
Car production in the UK increased by 5.4 per cent (seasonally adjusted) in the three months to July compared with the previous three months, according to the Office for National Statistics. Production for the home market fell by 5.9 per cent, but production allocated for the export market rose by 9 per cent. Compared with the same three-month period of 2006, production (seasonally adjusted) increased by 3.2 per cent, with domestic output down 3.7 per cent and production for export up by 5.3 per cent. Total production of commercial vehicles in the May-July period was up 2.2 per cent compared with the previous three months and 9.9 per cent higher year-on-year.

SMEs underline role as backbone of the economy
A record number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are starting up in the UK, according to an annual statistical review of the sector by DBERR. The 2006 survey showed that there were an estimated 4.5 million business enterprises in the UK at the start of the year, an increase of 125,000 (2.9 per cent) from the beginning of 2005. The vast majority of these enterprises – 99.3 per cent – were small, with 0-49 employees. Some 27,000 medium-sized enterprises (50-249 employees) accounted for 0.6 per cent of the total, while large businesses (250 or more employees) made up the remaining 0.1 per cent.

SMEs employed 58.9 per cent of everyone in work in the UK and delivered 51.9 per cent of the economy’s turnover. There were 1.2 million employees, an increase of 2.1 per cent from the start of 2005, who were responsible for an estimated combined turnover of $8.4 billion. However, the vast majority of businesses had no staff at all, with 73 per cent of the total consisting of sole proprietors or partnerships. In 2006, there were 2.8 million sole proprietors in the UK, of whom 322,000 employed staff, and 505,000 partnerships, 188,000 of them with employees.

There were 1.14 million registered companies in 2006, a 5.6 per cent increase from the previous year, and 693,000 of these had employees. This was the ninth year in succession that the number of companies increased. There were also more sole proprietors, with a total of 2.8 million – a rise of 75,000, or 2.7 per cent, from the previous year.


Growing broadband uptake leads boom in telecoms market
A new report from telecoms regulator Ofcom reveals a number of interesting trends in the UK’s $100 billion electronic communications sector. The Communications Market Report 2007 shows that UK consumers now spend an average 50 hours a week on the telephone, surfing the internet, watching television or listening to the radio. Average daily internet use in 2006 was 36 minutes, up 158 per cent on the 2002 figure, while mobile phone usage, at almost four minutes per day, was up 58 per cent. While consumers are getting more out of their communications services, the prices they pay are continuing to fall. In 2006 the average household spend on communication services was $185.30 per month, down from $188.06 in 2005.

With ever greater convergence of technologies (for example, live TV on mobiles, radio over the TV and voice calls on the internet), there is now a greater range of ‘bundled’ services providing landline, broadband, digital television and mobile phone services in a single package. The number of consumers buying bundled packages had risen to 40 per cent of the population by April 2007, an increase of a third in just 12 months. The use of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephone services is increasing, with 20 per cent of respondents to an Ofcom survey phoning online, compared with 14 per cent at the end of 2005.

At the end of 2006 there were more than double the number of mobile phone connections (69.7 million) in the UK compared with landline connections (33.6 million). More households rely just on a mobile phone (9 per cent ) than rely solely on a landline (7 per cent) and, for the first time, total mobile call minutes (82 billion) accounted for more than a third of all call minutes (234 billion). Consumers also use their mobiles for more than simply making calls: 41 per cent regularly use their phone as a digital camera, 13 per cent use it for internet access, 10 per cent listen to FM radio and 21 per cent use it as a mini games console. Users also sent 20 per cent more text messages in 2006 than in 2005, with an average of 12 text messages per mobile per week.

Wireless networks are giving more people access to the internet on the move, with 11.2 per cent (7.8 million) mobile phones now connected to a 3G network (70 per cent up from 4.6 million in 2005). The number of wi-fi hotspots in the UK had increased to 11,447 by April 2007, compared with 10,339 a year earlier. Digital television is now in 80.5 per cent of UK homes and high-definition television, though still in its infancy, has penetrated 450,000 homes.

In April 2007, 53 per cent of UK households had a broadband connection. Headline broadband speeds doubled over the course of 2006, with an average advertised maximum speed of 3.6Mbit/s at the end of the year, compared with 1.6Mbit/s at the end of 2005. By June 2007 this had risen to 4.6Mbit/s. The increase in speeds is due in part to continued investment and growth in local loop unbundling, which allows operators to install their own equipment in the exchanges of incumbent operator BT and offer broadband services direct to consumers. They are also being boosted by investment in infrastructure on both BT and cable networks, according to Ofcom.

Competition in the provision of phone services is increasing. Though diversifying its revenue streams elsewhere (for example, smart phones with PDA functionality), BT saw its share of fixed voice call volumes fall below 50 per cent for the first time in 2006 (48 per cent) and its share of all telecoms connections, including mobile, fall below one in four (23 per cent, down from 26 per cent a year earlier). In the business market, its fixed-line share fell from 39 per cent to 38 per cent.

Increased competition is driving down prices for consumers. Ofcom calculated that the typical costs of a basket of residential telecoms services (landline, two mobiles and broadband) would have cost 9 per cent less ($13.00) in 2006 than in 2005, with a total $70.00 saving on the same bundle over the five years to 2006.

In August, EU media commissioner Viviane Reding, currently drawing up controversial new rules for telecoms markets across Europe (aimed, among other things at stimulating broadband development), cited the UK’s decision to split the networks and services division of BT as a potential template for other former state-run telecoms operators. In 2005 BT agreed with Ofcom to create an independent unit responsible for giving rivals access to its networks. This BT division is obliged to treat competitors on the same basis as its own services. Rivals to BT say that British broadband subscriptions are now approaching the levels seen in the world-leading Nordic countries.

Meanwhile companies are battling for market share in all segments of the telecoms sector. BT remains the dominant fixed-line operator and is also the leading supplier of broadband services, having passed the 4 million customer mark in August 2007. According to BT, the UK has overtaken Japan, France, Germany and the US in terms of broadband penetration and is now behind only Canada among the G8 countries. To help strengthen its position, the operator has launched BT Vision, a new broadband television service based on the popular free-to-air Freeview service.

UK builds on success in thriving creative industries
The film industry contributed $8.6 billion to the UK’s GDP in 2006, up from $6.1 billion in 2004 – an increase of 39 per cent in just two years, according to a study by Oxford Economics. The report revealed significant long-term growth in the sector, from an average of 43 films made a year in the 1980s to 120 a year since 2000. The UK will attract around 11 per cent of global film production from now until 2010, with inward investment on productions rising to about $1.2 billion, predicted the report, underpinning a long-term expansion of the industry.

Film tax credits introduced by the government in 2006 are one reason for increased investment, and UK-based film producers are benefiting from growth in exports, which were worth some $1.93 billion in 2005. Workers in the sector are also highly qualified, according to Oxford Economics, with 59 per cent of production staff being university-educated and 23 per cent having a graduate-level qualification specific to the industry.

London in particular benefits from the UK’s strong track record in the creative industries, with design, publishing, digital media, music and film contributing around 10 per cent of the capital’s total GDP, according to investment agency Think London. London is home to the largest music market in Europe and the third largest in the world, has more than 60 film studios, hosts 50 film festivals every year and is one of the ‘big four’ fashion capitals globally. Film London estimates that Indian film productions alone contribute more than $1 billion to the city’s economy each year. Building on this creative platform, Think London is increasing its efforts to reach out to the creative sectors and to entice more overseas companies in all these sectors to invest in the UK capital.

Inspired by the growth of the gaming and animated film industries, the University of Bedfordshire in Eastern England has introduced a new BSc (Hons) degree course in Computer Animation. The course will focus on areas of study such as computer graphics, cell animation, 3D modelling and set construction, multimedia, interactive animation, digital special effects and non-linear digital video editing. It will benefit from new high-tech equipment, including motion capture suites and a $120,000 computer graphics lab. The course is designed to equip graduates with skills needed for work in the film and television industries, computer games development, computer programming and CD-ROM and website design.

Universities invest in innovative technology programmes
Manchester University is setting up a $100 million venture capital fund to invest in intellectual property, in partnership with MTI Partners, a London-based commercial investment manager. This is the latest in a growing group of specialist investment vehicles aimed at stimulating the commercialisation of university research in the UK.

The North West England-based university has a strong track record in materials science, with nanotechnology and high-performance fabrics among its specialisms. It has an active commercialisation arm, University of Manchester Intellectual Property, and has developed a number of successful spin-off companies in recent years. These include software company Transitive; wound treatment company Renovo, now worth an estimated £300 million after floating in 2006; and Neutec Pharma, sold to Novartis for a similar sum. In all, the university produces around 240 inventions a year, 15 per cent of which have commercial potential.

The University of Dundee in Scotland is to expand its biomedical research base at its College of Life Sciences with a $12 million investment that will create two new divisions of Molecular Medicine and Molecular and Environmental Microbiology. Refurbishment of two university laboratories will also see the development of a cell behaviour and tissue biology group. It is anticipated that the investment – made possible by a $4 million grant from the Wolfson Foundation and additional funding from Scottish Enterprise Tayside – will generate an additional $16–$20 million in research income and will create up to 100 new jobs in the first five years. It will build on Dundee’s successful track record in coupling basic research to the introduction of innovative knowledge transfer models in the areas of drug discovery, biomarker development, diagnostic tools and tissue-based drug screening technologies.

Semi Scenic, a Lanarkshire-based semiconductor support specialist, has won a $2 million contract to supply essential components to Semefab (Scotland) Ltd, the UK’s flagship micro and nanotechnology (MNT) project based in Glenrothes, Fife. Semi Scenic will supply wafer etch tooling for MEMS (micro electromechanical system) devices, which have a variety of applications in, for example, bio and gas sensors, car air bags and flatscreen televisions. Semefab, the first project of its kind in the UK, is planning to expand its operations and investment in the $30 million UK MNT project, having acquired a 32,200 sq ft facility adjacent to its existing premises that will enable it to roll out the next phase of the project.

At the same time, Scottish Enterprise has signed a memorandum of understanding with Samsung Electro-Mechanics, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of advanced electronic components, to begin collaborative research on nanomaterials technology at a number of Scottish universities. Samsung Electro-Mechanics will conduct initial research projects over a period of several years at the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Strathclyde, with more universities, including St Andrews and Dundee, taking part as the programme develops. The research will draw on the advanced materials expertise of the institutions, and will focus on developing a new generation of materials to be used in electronic devices. Depending on the project’s success, Samsung may in time establish its own materials laboratory in Scotland to continue the research.

A 12-month pilot scheme has been launched that will speed up the processing of patent applications in the UK and the US. The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) will allow patent applicants who have received an examination report by either the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) or the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to request accelerated examination of a corresponding application field in the other country. The aim of the pilot scheme is to test applicant demand and to quantify the quality and efficiency gains to be expected. It follows an agreement established with the Japan Patent Office earlier this year, which is already showing great promise, according to the UK-IPO.
 

The project will cover an area of sea measuring 4km x 2km, with a water depth of around 50 metres, and each wave device developer will be granted a lease of 5–10 years on an area of 2 sq km. It is expected that up to 30 devices will be deployed at the site, with the project becoming operational in 2009. Wave Hub could generate enough electricity to power 7,500 homes, directly saving 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over 25 years, say its backers. The South West RDA calculates it could also generate significant numbers of new jobs and large-scale economic benefits, both regionally and nationally.

The Government has also given the go-ahead for a large-scale wind farm project at Teesside in North East England. EDF Energy’s 90 MW, 30-turbine project will be located a mile off the coast between the mouth of the River Tees and the town of Redcar. Scheduled for completion in 2010, it will generate green electricity for approximately 72,000 homes.

Government incentives have encouraged German energy giant E.ON to invest in a number of projects in the UK. E.ON UK, the company’s UK arm, is to build a multimillion-dollar offshore wind farm off the coast of East Yorkshire. The Humber Gateway Offshore Wind Farm, one of the biggest in the UK, will comprise 83 turbines and will be capable of producing up to 300 MW of energy, enough to power 200,000 homes, according to the company. “It will displace the emissions of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide every year and will make a significant contribution to helping us meet the Government’s tough renewable energy targets,” said Dr Paul Golby, E.ON UK’s chief executive.

E.ON is also planning to build the UK’s biggest dedicated biomass plant at Steven’s Croft in Scotland, is investigating cleaner coal technologies and is developing marine power schemes. In addition, it is part of a consortium that is planning to build the world’s largest wind farm, the London Array, off the south east coast of England. The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) predicts that the UK wind energy market will grow from its current 900 MW to 7,500 MW by the end of the decade.

McCain Foods (GB) meanwhile is to install three 80-metre-high wind turbines at its Whittlesey plant in Cambridgeshire, Eastern England in an attempt to reduce its carbon footprint and to make its operations more sustainable for the future. The Whittlesey plant is the largest potato chip factory in the UK, and McCain is the first major UK food manufacturer to power a facility of this size using alternative energy. The 3 MW turbines will be the highest onshore and the most powerful in the UK and will power the entire site at certain times of the year, providing over 60 per cent of its annual electrical power needs. When the plant is not operating, unused electricity will be channelled into the National Grid.

North East container port moves a step closer to realisation
Plans for a major new deep-sea container terminal in North East England have taken an important step towards gaining planning approval with the withdrawal of an outstanding objection to the scheme. PD Ports Ltd, a subsidiary of Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Ltd, is proposing to build the $600 million Northern Gateway Container Terminal at Teesdock in Redcar to serve as a gateway port for markets in the north of England. The terminal will have three berths capable of handling vessels of up to 9,000 teu (20 ft equivalent units) of containers, with 1,000 metres of new riverside quay line and alongside depths of 16 metres.

An objection by Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd regarding increased demand on rail freight capacity as a result of the new terminal has been withdrawn, following a pledge by PD Ports to contribute to upgrades to the East Coast Main Line and to diversionary routes on the rail network. With support from local authorities already secured, PD Ports will now put the planning application forward to the Department for Transport (DfT), and says it is hopeful of an early decision.

The DfT has launched a new tax incentive scheme for road hauliers and bus operators to buy vehicles that meet the latest European standard for air pollutant emissions, Euro V, before it becomes mandatory on 1 October 2009. Operators registering a vehicle before that date can claim a discount of up to $1,000 a year on vehicle excise duty (VED). The incentive is intended to improve air quality by encouraging the early uptake of more environmentally friendly heavy vehicles.
 

Victory for pounds and pints as EU concedes metric battle
Following consultations with British industry and trade organisations, the European Commission announced in early September that the UK would not be obliged to switch to a fully metric system of measurements. The results of the consultation, together with an assessment of the depth of public feeling in the UK about the issue, finally convinced the Commission that its attempt to make the UK drop its imperial measures was a “pointless battle”. This means that pints of milk and beer, pounds of fruit and vegetables, and speed limits and road signs in miles will remain part of the British way of life.

Since January 2000, European Union rules have decreed that British tradesmen must use metric units (grammes and kilos) for the weighing and sale of loose goods, such as fruit and vegetables. The UK had secured the right to display the traditional imperial measurements alongside them on product labels, but this concession was due to expire in 2009. Now, however, the EC has conceded that miles, pounds and pints can be used indefinitely in tandem with the metric system.

The controversy dated back to the UK’s entry into the then European Economic Community in 1973, and symbolised what many people in the UK felt to be an irritating and meddling side to the EU. The fight reached a peak in 2001 when a market trader in Sunderland, North East England was prosecuted for selling bananas by the pound only, becoming the first of several ‘metric martyrs’. Recently, US industrialists have weighed into the debate, arguing that a metric-only rule would mean higher costs for businesses forced to set up dual production systems for the EU and for other regions such as the US.

Eventually, according to observers, the concession also gave the EU an opportunity to demonstrate that it is prepared to listen to the concerns of its member states. Günter Verheugen, the EU industry commissioner, said that the announcement “honour[ed] the culture and tradition of Great Britain and Ireland, which are important to the European Commission”.
 

Regional News
A new index of the world’s top university cities compiled by RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia has ranked London in first place. The Global University City Index – believed to be the first index to rank university cities – was based on cities’ scale and ‘livability’, the number of world-class universities and their investment and performance in education and research. To qualify, cities had to have at least two high-profile universities and a population of more than two million, and be ranked by the Economist Intelligence Unit among the world’s 100 most livable cities. London was followed by Boston, Paris, Tokyo, Melbourne, Sydney, New York and a number of other US cities. Hong Kong was 14th, Singapore 17th and Shanghai was the only mainland Chinese city on the list at number 20.

Raytheon Systems Ltd (RSL), the UK subsidiary of Massachusetts-based defence company Raytheon, has opened a new Systems Integration Centre at Uxbridge in the west of London, expanding its London base, which was previously located in Park Lane. Raytheon, established in the UK for nearly 100 years, is a prime contractor to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and employs more than 1,300 people. The move to the 14,000 sq ft Uxbridge office, located near Heathrow Airport and the M25 and M40 motorways, will allow the company to bring together core activities in areas such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (IRS), command and control, precision systems and national security. It will also allow it to increase its London staff from 100 to potentially around 400.

India is now the second largest contributor of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects to London, according to Think London, the capital’s inward investment agency. The agency estimated that Indian companies accounted for 14 per cent of all FDI projects into London during 2006/07, up from 6 per cent in 2000/01. The UK capital attracts more FDI projects from India than any other location in Europe: between 2004 and 2006, Greater London won 53 (32 per cent) of the 168 projects coming into Europe. The only other significant destination for Indian investment was Antwerp in Belgium, with seven projects (4 per cent). Almost half the Indian companies coming to London (48 per cent) work in the ICT sector, with 11 per cent in financial services and 9 per cent in life sciences. In 2006/07 Think London assisted 19 Indian companies to set up operations in the city; between them, these companies created 634 jobs, a new record.

e-Spirit, a German developer of content management systems, has set up its first UK office in London. The company has a number of other European offices, including in Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne and Zurich, but it sees establishing a presence in London as an opportunity to penetrate global markets. “To offer [our international clients] the best possible connection to their customers, it is vital that we demonstrate our presence at the nodal points of the international market. Founding e-Spirit UK Ltd is another important step in this direction and will significantly strengthen our position,” said Jörn Bodemann, the company’s managing director. IT and software services is one of the UK’s biggest areas of investment, with a total of 100,000 software houses active in the sector.

Frauscher Selectrail, a joint venture between Australian railway signalling technology company Selectrix and Frauscher GmbH of Austria, has opened an office at Bromsgrove Technology Park in Worcestershire in the West Midlands. This is the company’s first European branch, as it looks to expand into UK and European markets. Selectrix is based in Thomastown, Victoria and has offices in five other locations in Australia.

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and East of England International (EEI) have set up a programme with the Metro Hartford Alliance in Connecticut aimed at establishing partnerships between companies in the East of England and companies based on the north eastern seaboard of the USA, particularly in New York and Boston. The programme is open to all forms of business partnership, including distribution, licensing, joint ventures and purchasing. Connecticut is home to a significant cluster of aerospace companies, and ICT and medical engineering are also key sectors in this part of New England. More information at: www.metrohartford.com.

A new cruise liner terminal has opened in Liverpool in North West England, marked by a 40th birthday visit from the famous liner the QE2. The $38 million terminal will see the world’s biggest cruise ships return to the River Mersey; a total of 23 vessels carrying more than 25,000 passengers are already confirmed over the next 18 months. Construction of the terminal involved creating an extension connected to the existing landing stage at Princes Dock, allowing ships of up to 350 metres to berth. The terminal has top-class visitor facilities, and it is hoped it will help to attract visitors to Liverpool as the city gears up for its role as European Capital of Culture in 2008.

The SWORD Group, an international IT product and services company, is to open a new IT centre in Cwmbran, South Wales that will employ more than 200 people by 2012. The centre will focus on business process outsourcing and associated R&D and consulting work, and will complement the group’s existing global network of 21 offices in 14 countries. The company chose to locate its new centre in Wales in preference to lower-cost locations such as India. “[Cwmbran] has the right skill pool and employee loyalty and is ideally situated, geographically, to supplement the support already provided to our UK operations,” said Heath Davies, chief operations officer of the SWORD Group.

Swedish stem cell research company Cellartis AB has officially opened its new R&D and manufacturing facility at Medipark in Dundee, Scotland. The company, the world’s largest provider of ethically-derived human embryonic stem cell technologies, set up a base in Scotland to take part in a joint research programme funded by ITI Life Sciences. The programme, valued at $19 million over three years and involving researchers from local universities, is intended to develop an automated process to produce high-quality stem cells, a capability that currently does not exist anywhere else in the world.

New R&D premises for Cellartis AB in Dundee

To date, Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grants worth a total of $97.8 million have helped to create or safeguard 7,300 jobs in Scotland, according to Enterprise Minister Jim Mather. RSA is Scotland’s main national scheme of financial assistance to industry and is administered by the Innovation and Investment Grants (IIG) unit of the Scottish Executive. So far, 63 businesses in Scotland (38 from Scotland itself) have accepted grants, linked with planned capital expenditure of some $390 million. Mr Mather was speaking during a visit to Glasgow-based manufacturer Allied Vehicles, which has been awarded an RSA grant of $1.2 million towards the expansion of its Possilpark premises.

Borland Software Corporation, the world’s leading vendor of open application lifecycle management (ALM) solutions, is relocating its European technical support centre to Belfast, Northern Ireland in a multimillion-dollar investment. The Belfast base will be one of Borland’s three support centres worldwide, with the others located in Atlanta and Singapore. The company expects to increase its workforce in Belfast from 30 to 80 by next year. “The quality of ICT graduates was one of the key factors in our decision to move the operation to Belfast and we are confident that this skills base will help us to deliver on corporate objectives and secure the Belfast centre as one of Borland’s core global operations,” said Dave Packer, the company’s senior vice president of field operations.

Another US company – California-based 3PAR, a leading global provider of enterprise data storage solutions – has set up a global R&D centre in Belfast, with $2 million in support from investment agency Invest Northern Ireland. The investment could create up to 80 new jobs for software developers by 2010. Meanwhile Teleperformance, a leading provider of intelligent contact centre and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, has officially opened its new contact centre at Newry in the province. The 23,000 sq ft facility will almost double the company’s current capacity, adding to its existing 700-seat contact centre in Bangor, Co Down.

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