April, 2004

News

Brown’s Budget trims back bureaucracy
Chancellor Gordon Brown unveiled his seventh annual Budget on March 17, setting out the government’s financial plans for the coming year. Mr Brown’s forecast for economic growth for this year and next was unchanged at 3-3.5 per cent, but he revised his forecast for 2006 to 2.5-3 per cent. Fixed investment is expected to grow by at least 5 per cent this year and by 6 per cent next year. Net public borrowing for 2003/04 is expected to be $68.3 billion, declining gradually over the subsequent five years to $41.9 billion. The budget deficit is expected to be $38.8 billion this year, but is forecast to decline rapidly, until breaking even in 2006/07. Inflation for this year is forecast at 1.75 per cent, rising to the government’s target of 2 per cent next year.

At the top of Mr Brown’s agenda was reform of the civil service, and the measures he announced amounted to the biggest shake-up of the bureaucracy for 200 years. Reorganisation and streamlining will lead to a combined total of 40,500 job cuts by 2008, and 20,000 further staff will be moved out of London and the South East to the regions, to save money. The Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise are set to merge, with 10,500 jobs set to be cut. The reformed department will eventually provide a single point of contact for all tax-related matters.

Mr Brown pledged support to education and science. Annual spending on education is to rise by $15.5 billion to $140 billion by 2008, and annual investment in schools will grow from $10.9 billion to $14.7 billion. The nine English Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) will be given a greater role, taking control of the Business Link network, which provides advice to small businesses. A review will also look at streamlining their funding and at reducing the burden of target-driven red tape, raising the prospect of the RDAs taking more responsibility for regional investment.

Taxes remained largely unaltered. The biggest change was that small businesses (with profits below $91,000) will be required to pay 19 per cent tax on dividends from their profits, closing a loophole that allowed them to take advantage of zero rate corporation tax. For larger companies, there will be new, US-style disclosure rules requiring registration of accountants’ tax avoidance schemes, and specific anti-avoidance provisions will be introduced relating to partnerships, finance leases and VAT. Particularly targeted are sale-and-leaseback arrangements on plant and machinery.

Rates, however, were frozen on corporation tax and on the climate change levy, with more businesses likely to benefit from 80 per cent discounts on the latter. The VAT threshold for small businesses was raised to $105,500, and investment allowances for the smallest businesses were increased from 40 to 50 per cent. There was an extension of the items that can be claimed under the research and development tax credits scheme.

Most personal taxation rates and consumption taxes were frozen, though tax relief on investments in venture capital trusts was extended to investments of up to $364,000, and the rate of relief increased from 20 per cent to 40 per cent. A new scheme is to be introduced for individual personal pensions, with a $2.7 million lifetime fund cap in 2006/07, its first year of operation, and rising to $3.3 million in 2010. However, there was an extra penny on a pint of beer, 4p (7.3 cents) on a bottle of wine and 8p on a packet of cigarettes. Duty on fuel is set to rise by 1.9p a litre for petrol and diesel and 1.4p for sulphur-free fuel, although the increase has been delayed until September, and vehicle excise tax has been frozen.

The launch of road-user charging for heavy trucks will be postponed from 2006 to 2008, to allow further time for pilot studies, and the scheme will be introduced in stages, starting with the heaviest trucks. Truck owners will be compensated for the distance-based charge with rebates on fuel duty.

In other areas, incentives were announced for oil and gas exploration companies operating in the North Sea, and for film-makers. A new system of tax credits will be introduced for film companies working in the UK to replace the current regime, which expires in July 2005. The rate of relief will be set at 20 per cent rather than 15 per cent, and companies will be able either to offset this against profits or claim a cash payment from the Treasury, cutting out investment partnerships that have taken advantage of the scheme in the past.

Consultation will continue on reform of a loophole that allows wealthy foreigners with non-domicile status to live in the UK without paying income tax. Some $1.8 billion will be set aside for anti-terrorism measures this year, rising to $3.6 billion in future years, in addition to an ongoing commitment of $10.8 billion. Finally, there will be no decision for the time being on whether or not the UK should join the euro; the question will be reviewed again in next year’s Budget.


Economy in the pink as growth continues apace
There are numerous signs that the UK economy is in rude good health. A ‘poll of polls’ (a weighted average of recent business surveys) by accountancy group BDO Stoy Hayward, for example, shows that business confidence is at its highest level since October 1997. According to the Office for National Statistics, business investment, which accounts for about 60 per cent of all investment in the economy, increased by 1.3 per cent in the final quarter of 2003 to reach $51.6 billion, the highest figure since the second quarter of 2002. Investment rose by 0.6 per cent compared with the last quarter of 2002, the first time in more than two years that it had shown positive annual growth. The upturn, led by manufacturing, encouraged analysts to believe that a long downturn in investment was finally coming to an end.

Employers’ organisation the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) believes that the revival in investment and an increase in exports will lead to the economy growing faster than expected in 2004. The CBI’s quarterly economic forecast predicted that growth would average 3 per cent this year, up from a previous estimate of 2.8 per cent. It also revised its growth forecast for 2005 upwards by 0.1 percentage points to 2.8 per cent. This followed official figures that showed the economy as a whole grew by a better-than-expected 2.3 per cent in 2003, compared with 3.1 per cent in the US and just 0.4 per cent in the eurozone. A report from Ernst and Young predicted that next month’s accession of 10 new member states to the European Union would have a further beneficial effect on the UK economy, adding an estimated $1.8 billion a year, or 1 per cent to GDP, over the next decade.

The International Monetary Fund, in its annual review, reported that the UK had “weathered the global slowdown well” and predicted that growth could reach 3.1 per cent in 2004. However, the IMF sounded a warning note on house price inflation, singling this out as the single greatest threat to recovery, should the current boom in the market turn to bust. It argued that there was a “strong case” for a pre-emptive rise in interest rates to guard against this.

Manufacturers and engineering companies reported their strongest growth in seven years in the first quarter of 2004 and expected growth to strengthen further during this year and into 2005, according to the Engineering Employers’ Federation (EEF). Order books were at their fullest for three years and balances on outputs and orders the most positive for seven, with electronics, electrical equipment, transport equipment and motor vehicles leading the way. Figures indicate that cutbacks in investment may have come to an end, while in some areas employment has increased. Engineering is forecast to grow by 3.4 per cent in 2004 and by 4 per cent in 2005, while manufacturing is expected to grow by 2.4 per cent and 2.6 per cent. Growth is being driven primarily by orders from overseas, particularly from the US and Asia, but domestic demand is also picking up, said the EEF.

The pound’s strength against the dollar has not so far had a significant effect on exports, and it has meant lower costs for producers. Input prices fell 0.8 per cent in February, to the lowest level in almost 18 months. Output prices rose slightly, by 0.2 per cent, taking the annual rate of increase to 1.6 per cent.

Profits in the service sector are growing at their fastest rate for nearly three years and confidence is at a five-year high, according to a quarterly report from the CBI and accountancy firm Grant Thornton. Business volumes for consumer services companies were growing faster than at any time since the survey began in 1998, with a net 50 per cent of respondents reporting an increase. Volumes for business and professional services groups were rising at their fastest rate for a year. Employment in this sub-sector rose for the first time in 15 months, and 47 per cent of respondents expected business to grow in the coming quarter. The February survey by the Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply (Cips) showed expansion in the service sector for the 11th month in a row, with orders growing at their fastest rate since May 1997. The Cips purchasing manager index of activity stood at 59.5, well above the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction.

In the City, investment banks are beginning to hire aggressively for the first time in three years. About 47 per cent of the 26,000 employees to have lost their jobs since the third quarter of 2001 have been rehired, as merger and acquisition activity picks up in Europe and firms look to rebuild their corporate finance divisions.

Public and private sectors pledge investment to scientific research
Chancellor Gordon Brown has committed the government to spending hundreds of millions of dollars extra on science. The Treasury has pledged to raise spending from $3.2 billion in 2003 to $5.5 billion in 2006, and plans further investment for the period up to 2008. Prior to his Budget, Mr Brown unveiled a 10-year “strategy for science,” which will raise levels of public investment in R&D. Final funding decisions will be announced in a government spending review in the summer, but the Chancellor stressed that the success of the scheme would depend on industry matching the government’s commitment.

In response, leading science-based companies have pledged to increase their own spending on R&D. GlaxoSmithKline, for instance, announced plans to contribute $80 million to a $138 million collaborative research centre for medical imaging at Hammersmith Hospital in west London, in partnership with Imperial College. AstraZeneca intends to build a $106 million Centre for Advanced Lead Discovery at Alderley Park in Cheshire and a $29 million facility for early drug discovery at Charnwood in Leicestershire. The new commitment brings the company’s investment in UK research facilities to around $1.8 billion over the seven years from 1999 to 2006. The pharmaceutical and health sector accounts for about 40 per cent of all the UK’s corporate R&D spending. However, companies in other sectors, including Rolls-Royce, Shell, BP and Vodafone, are now discussing how their own R&D spending could complement public investment.

Meanwhile the government has committed $91 million to set up two centres of excellence for horticultural research, one at the University of Warwick in the West Midlands and one at East Malling in Kent, following a restructuring of research body Horticulture Research International (HRI).


Pharma companies inject new investment
Chiron Vaccines, the second largest manufacturer of flu vaccines in the world and a subsidiary of Chiron Corporation, headquartered in Emeryville, California, has begun work on a $100 million expansion of its manufacturing facility in Liverpool, North West England. The company will build a new 240,000 sq ft building on a 4.2-acre site adjacent to its existing 10-acre plant, where it employs more than 600 people. It inherited the facility, the largest in the UK and one of the largest in Europe, last year as part of its $976 million acquisition of UK vaccine manufacturer Powderject. In 2003 it manufactured a record 40 million doses of flu vaccine, most of which was exported to the US, and this year it hopes to achieve 50 million doses. Chiron Vaccines is based in Oxford, South East England, and has manufacturing facilities throughout Europe, the US and Asia.

Another leading pharmaceutical company, Rhodia Pharma Solutions (RPS), has opened a newly extended manufacturing facility at its site in Dudley, North Tyneside, in the North East. The extension, which involved investment of $9.1 million, is the first phase of a multimillion-dollar programme planned over the next ten years. Employing 350 people, the Tyneside plant is one of the key sites in RPS’ global network of facilities. The company specialises in R&D and the manufacture of active ingredients for a number of advanced medicines, including treatments for depression, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.


Dundee voted top university for scientific research
Dundee University in Scotland has been voted the best scientific institution in the UK in which to work, and the third best in the world outside the US. More than 2,000 scientific researchers took part in a poll for the international magazine The Scientist. Dundee biotech firm Cyclacel meanwhile has become the first university spin-out in Europe to attract investment of more than $91 million. The company has been at the forefront of developing cancer medicines and employs 75 staff at its operation in the city.

US-owned Upstate Ltd, which enjoys close links with Dundee University, is looking to expand into another building near its current base at Dundee Technology Park, and will increase its workforce from 50 to 70 this year. Dundee, which markets itself as the City of Discovery, has recently revamped its website, which carries business information and a city profile, together with a new property database on available development land and commercial sites within the city. Find it at: www.locate-dundee.co.uk.


Automotive sector puts in a strong performance
The total production of commercial vehicles in the UK for the three months ending January 2004 rose by 21.5 per cent compared with the previous three months and by 18.7 per cent (seasonally adjusted) compared with the same period a year earlier, according to government figures. Without seasonal adjustment, the increases were 35.6 per cent and 17.7 per cent respectively. Production of cars fell by 1.2 per cent compared with the previous three months but was up 9.5 per cent year-on-year. Production allocated for the export market rose 19 per cent compared with the same period a year ago. Total car output in January rose by 3.8 per cent to 141,320 units, while production for export grew by 12.4 per cent to 96,389 units. For commercial vehicles, January’s output was up 29.9 per cent compared with January 2003, and up by 17.7 per cent over the three-month period to January 2004.

An industry-led initiative launched in Wales three years ago has boosted the performance of the automotive sector there. Accelerate Wales has created 651 new jobs and safeguarded a further 1,963, and has helped automotive supply chain companies win $194 million in new business. Set up to develop and strengthen local supply chains, the initiative has already outstripped most of its targets set for 2006. It works by appointing lead companies as ‘champions’ whose role is to work with their supply chain companies to develop best practice and drive forward improvement.

US-owned Northern Automotive Systems Ltd (NASL), for example, which is based in Abergavenny and produces interior trim for a number of different car manufacturers, has created 205 new jobs and increased its turnover by $18 million since joining the Accelerate Wales programme. Another US-owned company, SPX Contech, which established an aluminium foundry in Welshpool in 2001, has built up a strong local supply chain that has won it new customers and contracts worth $8.6 million.

Elsewhere, the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) has helped to launch the Northwest Automotive Alliance, the first regional automotive cluster organisation in the UK. This industry-led organisation will promote the interests of automotive companies in the North West, which has one of the largest automotive industries in the UK, accounting for 12 per cent of total UK sector sales and 4 per cent of the region’s manufacturing GDP. Last year more than 200,000 private cars and 13,000 trucks were produced there. Local manufacturers include Vauxhall, Bentley, Jaguar, TVR and PACCAR (Leyland Trucks) and these are supported by an extensive network of design, component and supply companies. In all, the North West boasts some 500 automotive companies, employing 43,000 people. Another cluster organisation in the region, the North West Chemical Initiative, has rebranded and relaunched itself under the new name of Chemicals Northwest.

Steelmaker Corus is to invest $45.5 million in an R&D partnership with Warwick University, in the West Midlands, to pioneer techniques in automotive materials. Corus will move its 30-strong automotive materials research team to the university’s International Automotive Research Centre. Established last year, the centre is backed both by the government and by Premier Automotive Group, the division of Ford that owns Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin. It is set to become the UK’s leading centre for collaboration between automotive companies and engineering academics. Warwick has been at the forefront of government-encouraged efforts to forge links between universities and businesses.

The West Midlands is also celebrating the decision by Japanese motorsport company Mitsubishi Motors to remain in the region. Having outgrown its premises in Rugby, Mitsubishi was considering a move to Germany, which would have meant the loss of 200 highly-skilled jobs and $180 million a year to the local economy. Instead, following the intervention of RDA Advantage West Midlands which awarded it a Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant of $1.2 million, the company will move to Prologis Park in Coventry, where it will occupy a specially designed building twice the size of its existing premises.

With its sister agency East Midlands Development Agency (emda), Advantage West Midlands is also funding the creation of a new organisation to represent the region’s aerospace sector. The Midlands Aerospace Alliance (MAA) will work to build best practice and encourage collaboration across the industry. In the Midlands as a whole, there are around 350 companies directly involved in the aerospace sector and three times as many indirectly involved. The sector employs 45,000 people directly, with many more involved in spin-off activities. About 70 per cent its products are exported to world markets.


New labs encourage research investment in food sectors
Leatherhead Enterprise Centre in Surrey, South East England, is set to become a focal point for the food and bioscience R&D sectors with the opening of new wet labs in April. Wet labs are essential for food and bioscience R&D, as they are specifically designed to allow the safe handling of liquid chemicals and ingredients. The labs at Leatherhead were purpose-built by the South East England Development Agency to address a shortage of facilities in the UK as a whole.

Already, before the official opening of the lab, US-owned flavours company FONA has chosen it as a base from which to start its planned expansion into Europe. The company also intends to use it as a major centre for product testing and R&D for its global business. SEEDA now hopes that other companies in the sector will take advantage of the facilities at the Enterprise Centre, one of three in Surrey. These include office accommodation, business support services and academic links to encourage technology transfer.


Creative industries look north
New research shows that businesses in the creative industries, which have traditionally been concentrated in central London, are beginning to move out to other regions of the UK, drawn by lower overheads and a better quality of life. Analysis by research group Marketscan of 2 million businesses in the UK revealed that in 2003 the number of advertising and promotions businesses in London fell by about 4 per cent. At the same time, cities and regions in the north of the country – including Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Tyne & Wear – recorded significant increases. Tyne & Wear in the North East, for example, recorded growth of 10.9 per cent in the number of marketing businesses setting up shop, while North Humberside notched up a rise of 9.7 per cent. Cumbria in the North West was the top performer, with growth of 12.8 per cent.

Factors at work in the migration include increased investment, by both the UK and the European Union, in formerly deprived areas of the country and the increased availability of grants and subsidies. Lower office accommodation costs and overheads are obviously attractive, while the availability of broadband internet links and collaborative communications technologies mean that distance is no longer the issue it once was for small businesses. Perhaps most importantly, however, is a change in mindset: many small businesses and individuals seem to have decided that Soho need no longer be the centre of the creative universe.

Communications links benefit both scientists and consumers
High-speed networking experts at Lancaster University, in the North West, have put the finishing touches to one of the biggest and fastest computer networks in Europe. The Trans Regional Broadband Superhighway is a $3 million project that links universities, higher education institutions and e-science centres across the region. It connects facilities in a number of towns and cities, including Manchester, Warrington, Daresbury, Preston, Kendal, Penrith and Carlisle, with 200km of fibre-optic cable. The new grid will allow sophisticated communications between computer systems, enabling researchers and academics to share data and boost capacity. It will also underpin the growth of e-science – large-scale research conducted on huge computer networks with the help of the internet. Initially the network will provide multiple 10Gbs circuits between sites, using DWDM (Dense Wave Division Multiplexing) equipment. When fully deployed, it will have the capacity to deliver 320Gbs of data and will be linked to other grids in the region.

New technology is also benefiting businesses and communities as the roll-out of broadband technology around the country continues. Greater Manchester will have 100 per cent broadband coverage in July, when two final British Telecom (BT) exchanges are enabled. Another 26,000 homes and businesses in the North East were added to the broadband map in March, while the West Midlands has seen its 100th exchange switched to the new technology. BT itself has cut the price to consumers of its high-speed internet access service, setting the stage for a possible price war as competitors eye the market. The company’s Broadband Basic service is being marketed at just over $36.00 a month, considerably less than its own previous package and cheaper than most rival offerings. For this, users are entitled to download one gigabyte of data a month – equivalent to 200 MP3 music tracks or 20,000 web pages.


Regional airports announce expansion plans
Manchester Airport, in the North West, has opened a new multimodal public transport interchange – the only one in the country to bring bus, coach and rail services together under one roof. The new facility – called The Station – also features the UK’s most advanced passenger information systems and a fully-equipped cycle centre. Provision has been made for the future extension of the Metrolink tram system to the airport, and a planned second phase will extend platforms to accommodate longer trains, while a third platform will be built to boost the current throughput of eight trains an hour.

Use of the airport is growing rapidly, and British Airways plans to add extra capacity this summer with a number of additional flights to European destinations. The frequency of flights to Copenhagen will be increased from two a day to three, and there will also be extra services to the Isle of Man, Paris, Rome, Stuttgart, Hanover and Oslo. On other routes, including Venice, Vienna, Nice, Pisa and Zurich, larger aircraft with additional seat capacity will be introduced.

Meanwhile, a $6.4 million expansion programme is planned for Exeter International Airport in the South West. The plan involves improvements to the airport’s infrastructure and the construction of a new aircraft maintenance hangar. This will largely be used by flyBE, the UK’s third biggest low-cost airline, which will expand its maintenance operations there, creating 96 new jobs over the next five years.

Young workers to benefit from minimum wage
The national minimum wage is to be extended to 16- and 17-year-olds for the first time, at a rate of $5.50 an hour, following recommendations of the Low Pay Commission. The government is also to go ahead with an 8 per cent rise in the adult rate to $8.80 an hour from October, following a 7 per cent increase to $8.20 in October 2003. The rate for 18-21-year-olds will rise to $7.40. The commission will monitor the effects of the two significant successive increases on businesses, who complain that they will suffer increased wage costs, both from workers earning the minimum and others who demand pay rises to maintain differentials.

Unions, which are pushing for an increase in the adult rate to $9.00 an hour, have applauded the extension of the minimum wage to workers below the age of 18. There are 650,000 of them in the UK, two-thirds of whom work in shops, pubs and restaurants. The vast majority (93 per cent) are already on more than $5.50 an hour, but the move is intended to stamp out exploitation at the lower end of the scale. The rate will not apply to young workers on apprenticeships, and the government is looking at other ways to offer financial support to these.


Around the regions
US electronics corporation IceMOS Technology, based in Delaware, is to set up an $18 million manufacturing operation in Belfast in Northern Ireland. The company will make components for the semiconductor industry at the site, where it plans to create 52 jobs over the next three years. It is also planning to establish links with Queen’s University, Belfast to carry out research into super-junction devices. This, it is hoped, will lead to the development of new, environmentally friendly semiconductor devices.

Powerscreen International, a manufacturer of screening and recycling machinery based in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, has won a $910,000 contract to supply its market-leading Chieftain machinery to iron ore mining centres in South Goa, Orissa and Karnataka in India. The company, which is part of the US-based Terex Group and employs around 450 people, manufactures over 50 types of machine and exports them to customers in 40 countries, including the US, France, Germany, Hong Kong and Australia. It expanded its export business by more than 18 per cent in 2002, and last year was named Northern Ireland’s Exporter of the Year.

General Dynamics, the US defence contractor, has made an agreed $562 million bid for its UK rival Alvis, a maker of tanks and armoured vehicles based in London. Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, General Dynamics produces tanks, submarines, guns and battlefield communications systems. The acquisition of Alvis, with its complementary technology, is expected to boost its earnings.

Australian technology company IT&e has opened a sales office in London and entered into agreements with two UK firms to promote its products and services, which are aimed at the financial services industry. First Derivatives PLC will act as a sales agent throughout the UK and Europe for its Razor and PTX products, and will provide support both pre-sale and afterwards. IT&e has also signed a channel marketing agreement with London-based LogicScope Realisations, a company that specialises in the messaging and integration of market data and financial transactions. The agreement will focus initially on sales of IT&e’s PTX online trading product.

Amberpoint, Inc, a web services management provider based in Oakland, California, is to open an office in London as part of an expansion into Europe. Also establishing a London sales office is Forum Systems, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, a provider of trust management and web security solutions for government agencies, financial enterprises and e-businesses.

Pixel Magic Imaging of San Marcos, Texas, a provider of digital imaging solutions and photo kiosks, has opened an office in London to serve the European photographic market. DivXNetworks, a video technology company based in San Diego, California, has opened a sales and marketing office in Guildford, South East England. The company’s core product is the DivX video codec, a video compression technology that allows full-length films to fit onto a CD or be delivered via a broadband connection and which, it claims, has 100 million users worldwide.

Danish security firm Group 4 Falck A/S is to merge with London-based Securicor plc to create a new company, Group 4 Securicor plc, of which 57.4 per cent will be owned by former Group 4 Falck shareholders and 42.5 per cent by former Securicor shareholders. The new company will be headquartered and incorporated in the UK but will employ some 340,000 people across 108 countries.

BNP Paribas Securities Services, a banking subsidiary of the BNP Paribas Group of France, has relocated its UK offices from London to Peterborough in Eastern England. Since moving to its new site at the Lynch Wood Business Park, the company has expanded its workforce from 70 to more than 200. The company, which provides operations support and security services to financial institutions and employs 3,200 people worldwide, joins a number of other financial companies with bases in the Cambridgeshire town.

Shangji Electronic of China, developer of a range of hardware and software IT products, has become the first company to sign up to SinoVentures, a business centre aimed at innovative Chinese technology companies which has recently opened in Manchester, North West England. Companies setting up at the centre (run by Campus Ventures) receive an introductory package that includes up to three months’ free office accommodation and support. Support services include introductions to professional, commercial and academic networks, and the backing of local business organisations such as MIDAS and Chamber Business Enterprises. Shangji Electronic, which is based in Wuhan and has eight branches across China, saw the introductory package as an ideal opportunity to undertake market research into globalising its products. According to Campus Ventures, a further 40 Chinese companies have expressed interest in the centre.

Bolton, 13 miles north west of Manchester, is busy promoting itself as a place to do business. Details of the Bolton Economic Development Zone (EDZ) and investment opportunities in the area, can be found on development body Bolton WIDE’s website at: www.thinkbolton.co.uk

LogicaCMG, a major international provider of IT services and wireless telecoms, is to create more than 750 jobs through further investment in its centre of outsourcing excellence in Bridgend, South Wales. The British-based company, which runs operations in 34 countries, plans to make Bridgend the centre of its UK outsourcing operations. Of the new jobs, 350 will be at an existing facility where 200 workers are currently employed to provide IT services to large companies and public bodies, while 415 will be created at a new unit set up to handle business process outsourcing, such as billing and mortgage application processing for utilities and home loan companies.

Austrian biotechnology company Intercell, which develops products and technologies for the prevention of cancer and infectious diseases, has acquired a multipurpose biologics manufacturing plant in Livingston, near Edinburgh in Scotland. The 30,000 sq ft facility, which was formerly owned by Excell Biotech and has only just become operational, is designed to the latest international manufacturing standards. Intercell plans to use it for the manufacture of its late-stage vaccine for Japanese encephalitis and for the vaccine pipeline resulting from its R&D programmes into the identification of bacterial antigens.

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