August 2005

News

2004 marks new record for inward investment projects
The number of inward investment projects recorded in the UK in 2004 rose by 31 per cent and the number of jobs created increased by 55 per cent year-on-year, according to the annual report of UK Trade & Investment, the government agency that promotes foreign direct investment. The figures were better even than in the record year of 2000-01, with the total number of projects growing from 811 in 2003 to a record 1,066, while new jobs rose from 25,463 to 39,592. The number of research and development projects was up by 22 per cent to 101, with the numbers of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology projects growing by 38 per cent to 80 and IT and software projects by 61 per cent to 240.

Inward investment projects brought new employment to every region, and included a diverse range of activities – to take just a few examples, R&D into cardiovascular disease, manufacture of electronic components for the avionics industry, recycling of computer tubes and financial market information systems. The North West and South East took the largest share of new jobs, with more than 5,000 each, while Scotland accounted for 4,340 and the West Midlands, London and the North East for around 4,000 apiece. US companies were the largest job creators with 17,700, followed by German businesses (5,200) and Japanese (3,300). The UK remains the favoured European destination for Japanese firms; it has attracted some 1,000 firms since 1997, which between them have invested $23.5 billion and employ 95,000 people. Chinese firms created 347 jobs in 2004. By sector, manufacturing saw the largest number of new or safeguarded jobs, followed by the services sector.

The UK’s success came at the expense of the less dynamic eurozone economies of traditional rivals France and Germany. Despite being particularly badly hit by the bursting of the dotcom bubble, the UK recovered in 2004 to once again be the largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in Europe and the second largest in the world behind the US, with a total of $78.5 billion. The figures were boosted by the general health and openness of the UK economy, and by a series of large merger and acquisition (M&A) deals, including General Electric’s $10.3 billion purchase of research equipment maker Amersham and the $9.1 billion acquisition of UK mortgage bank Abbey National by Spain’s leading bank, Santander Central Hispano.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson said: “The figures … show that the UK is still viewed globally as one of the best places in the world to do business – thanks to our unrivalled economic performance, emphasis on research and technology and skilled, flexible workforce. … International comparisons continue to show the UK as Europe’s top investment destination. We must ensure that we retain our lead by adding value and exploiting technology.”
 

One of London’s biggest wealth generators is the financial services sector, which is centred on the City of London and Docklands financial districts and has seen business increase steadily over recent years. The sector is the most successful in the world in terms of exports. Insurance companies, banks and other financial institutions achieved net exports of $32.9 billion in 2004, almost three times more than a decade earlier, according to trade body International Financial Services London. The insurance industry contributed the most to export earnings, recording a trade surplus of $11 billion in 2004, while banks, securities dealers and other financial services each contributed more than $5.2 billion. Switzerland and Germany have small surpluses in the sector, while the US, Japan and France are all net importers of financial services. The US is the biggest single market for UK financial services companies, with a trade surplus of $9 billion in 2003, while the surplus with the European Union amounted to $8.3 billion.
 

Development plan outlined for northern England
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has announced detailed spending plans for a $173 million growth fund designed to kickstart economic development in the North of England. The Northern Way Business Plan focuses on key areas such as tackling skills shortages, improving transport links and encouraging young people to start their own businesses. The plan, which sets out how cash will be spent over the next three years by the three northern Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) – One NorthEast, the Northwest Development Agency and Yorkshire Forward – focuses on 10 priority areas.

For example, $26 million will be used to help fund centres of excellence in leadership, innovation and skills for sustainable communities, while $17 million will be used to develop two science-based research centres, identify research priorities and transfer knowledge from institutions to companies. Some $20.7 million will be spent to bring together the marketing operations of the three RDAs to attract investors and tourists, and $10.4 million will help coordinate their efforts to develop business clusters. Another $26 million will go to meet employers’ skills needs, while $20.7 million will be spent to improve transport links across the region.

Huntsman's plant in North East England

The North West was the most successful of the northern regions in attracting inward investment in 2004, with 5,376 new jobs created and a further 2,590 safeguarded. The region attracted 92 investment projects over the course of the year, with notable successes being the opening of JP Morgan INVEST’s

headquarters in Liverpool, which created 150 jobs, and the Bank of New York’s decision to locate a major new centre in Manchester, creating 350. In North East England, 58 inward investment projects created 3,947 new jobs, an increase year-on-year of 106 per cent. Notable projects included chemical giant Huntsman’s investment of $346 million to establish the world’s largest low-density polyethylene manufacturing facility at Wilton, Tees Valley. This huge project safeguarded 747 jobs and created 117 new ones.

In Yorkshire and Humber, 54 foreign-owned firms came to the region last year, creating or safeguarding 3,800 jobs. Investments ranged from Polestar Holdings’ $86.5 million gravure printing plant at Tinsley in Sheffield to 13 small-scale investments by Chinese luggage, stationery and footwear companies at the Hull Business Centre.

The region has launched a new initiative aimed at boosting R&D efforts through collaboration between businesses and universities. The Yorkshire Science and Technology Network (YSTN), supported by Yorkshire Forward and local business partners, will broker introductions between the business and academic sectors, particularly in areas relevant to the RDA’s cluster development programme. The initiative is part of the Knowledge RICH programme, which provides web-based access to regional expertise and facilities; more information at: www.knowledge-rich.com/ystn.

Yorkshire Forward has also announced $8.7 million in grants to help some of the region’s biggest companies improve their global market positions. Among the six winners in the first round of the Industrial Research and Development Award for Large Companies (YFIRD) are Smith & Nephew, Jarvis Rail and BP Chemicals. Projects being assisted under the scheme include one to find new ways of treating chronic tissue wounds and the development of light-sensitive dyes for next-generation computers. YFIRD is a three-year programme worth $32 million and is the first of its kind in the country. Yorkshire Forward is currently accepting outline applications for the second round of awards. Details at: www.yfird.org.


Healthy outlook for medical sciences sector
In terms of total numbers of foreign-invested projects, South East England was second only to London in 2004. The region boasts projects in a wide range of business sectors, the most significant being manufacturing, services, contact centres, R&D, distribution, corporate headquarters and e-commerce. The US was by far the largest investor with 464 projects, followed by Canada (67), Germany (60) and France and Japan (57 each).

This year looks set to be a good one for the region’s R&D sector, with a flurry of new announcements by healthcare, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology companies. Unigloves, a Malaysian producer of latex examination and protective gloves, is to open a sales, service and distribution operation in Rochester in Kent. The company, established in 1998, produces around 700 million pieces annually, and reports that the UK is becoming one of its most important markets. Elsewhere in Kent, at Hayes, Generex Biotechnology Corporation of Canada has opened a satellite office. The company plans to begin Phase II clinical trials in Europe of Oral-lyn, a proprietary oral insulin formulation designed to be delivered by its RapidMist device.

At Dartford, pharmaceutical giant Abbott has officially opened its new Murex Biotech facility, as part of a $276 million European expansion plan. The $67.4 million facility will be a major international manufacturing site for diagnostics tests covering a wide range of diseases and conditions. It adds to an established life sciences cluster in the Kent and Medway area that includes companies such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Genzyme and Smith Medical.

Swiss chemicals and biotechnology company Lonza is to expand its clinical-scale mammalian manufacturing capacity at its plant in Slough, in Berkshire. An investment of $15.7 million will see the installation of a 500-litre stirred tank bioreactor system, together with an inoculum expansion area, media preparation and primary recovery capabilities, and two new purification suites.

Emergent BioSolutions of the US, which specialises in products that harness the immune system to treat and prevent disease, has acquired vaccine company Microscience, which is based in nearby Wokingham. Microscience has an intellectual property portfolio that comprises 18 patent families covering more than 350 genes, with 101 initial applications. Under the deal, Emergent will acquire a broad product portfolio of five clinical-stage vaccines that target infectious diseases.

Outside the region, Irish healthcare provider United Drug has acquired TD Packaging of Swindon, South West England for $13.2 million. TD Packaging is an international supplier of primary and secondary packaging to the pharmaceutical and healthcare manufacturing industries. Asterand, a US-based supplier of human tissue and associated services for drug discovery research, has opened an office in Sudbury, Eastern England to support a major expansion of its business in Europe. The expansion involves the development of new laboratories to provide a full range of human tissue services, including the time-sensitive delivery of samples.

Meanwhile Professor Roland Wolf, director of the Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Dundee in Scotland, has been awarded the European Scientific Achievement Award by the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX). The organisation is the major international society dealing with gene-environment interactions, and makes three awards each year, one each for Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. Professor Wolf, a leading researcher into cancer, has been recognised for his overall scientific achievement in the field.


Research initiatives aim to boost high-tech industries
Newcastle has unveiled ambitious plans to capitalise on its designation last year as a ‘Science City’. The centrepiece of its plans is more than 1 million sq ft of new buildings housing world-class research, teaching and business facilities, provisionally named Science Central. One of the main development locations will be on the 14.4-acre former site of Scottish & Newcastle Breweries here, as at other sites, researchers in areas such as nanotechnology, bioscience and molecular technologies will work alongside companies and partner organisations such as the National Health Service. It is believed that up to 100 new technology-based companies could be attracted to the region by 2010, creating 5,000 new jobs.

A new business park aimed specifically at new and expanding firms in the food and drink sector – the first of its kind in the country – has been officially opened in Nottingham in the East Midlands. The Southglade Food Park provides a range of production units – including two 880 sq ft incubators, four 2,000 sq ft hatchery units and four 5,000 sq ft nursery units – together with cutting-edge product development kitchens, specialised support and other facilities. The development of the Food Park has been spearheaded by the Food and Drink Forum, an employer-led, not-for-profit organisation that supports the industry throughout the East Midlands region. Its aim is to encourage start-up and growing companies by offering them a ‘ladder’ of units into which they can grow.

Food and drinks manufacturers in the North East will benefit from a new web portal service that gives them access to the research into food processing, packaging and nutrition being carried out by the region’s five universities. For the first time, world-leading academic expertise will be available in areas such as brewing, food storage and preservation, and logistics via the portal, at www.northeastfoodanddrink.co.uk. It will bring together the specific strengths of each of the five universities: Newcastle with its food and nutrition research, Northumbria and Teesside with its food processing knowledge, Sunderland with its expertise in brewing technologies and Durham with its reputation for food business growth and development. Next year the scheme will be extended under the Northern Way initiative to include universities across the North East, North West, and Yorkshire.


BT unbundles local loop as broadband overtakes dial-up
The level of new broadband internet connections overtook dial-up connections for the first time in May, according to the latest survey of internet service providers by the Office for National Statistics. The proportion of new broadband subscribers in May was 50.7 per cent, up from 49.2 per cent the previous month and up 30 per cent on a year earlier. Numbers of broadband connections grew by 77.7 per cent in the 12 months to May 2005. Back in January 2001, broadband accounted for just 0.8 per cent of all connections. The overall level of internet connections has increased by 45.4 per cent since the index began in 2001.

The UK’s leading telecoms operator, BT Group, has agreed to offer rival companies equal access to its fixed-line network and cuts in wholesale prices, in return for lighter regulation. The move comes amid an ongoing review by Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, and could lead to cheaper telephone services for consumers and a wider choice of providers. It also means that BT will avoid being referred to the Competition Commission on account of its dominant market position, a development that could have forced the break-up of the company into separate wholesale and retail units. The UK has one of the most competitive telecoms sectors in Europe, but BT’s control of the local loop network – also known as ‘the final mile’ – has led to criticism from competitors. BT will now set up an Access Services business unit employing 30,000 people, a third of its total workforce, which will provide other companies with network access.

One of the key players in the new market is France Telecom, the French domestic incumbent, which plans significant involvement in the unbundling of the local loop. The company, which owns mobile operator Orange, also has a presence in the UK fixed-line market with through ISP Wanadoo. Wanadoo, formerly known in the UK as Freeserve, is to change its name again to Orange, to create a more unified business entity under the company’s latest three-year growth plan.


Automotive sector ramps up production
Total car production rose by 0.1 per cent, seasonally adjusted, in the three months to May, compared with the previous three months. Production for the export market rose by 2.1 per cent while production for the domestic market fell by 5 per cent. Compared with the same three months in 2004, total car production was down by 0.9 per cent. Production of commercial vehicles rose by 8 per cent compared with the previous three months and by 8.3 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier.

The UK has more volume vehicle manufacturers than any other EU country, with over 3,250 companies providing 237,000 jobs across the sector. In 2004, UK factories produced 1.7 million cars and 209,000 commercial vehicles. One of the most successful automotive segments is the engine industry. Engine manufacturing has grown by 29 per cent over the past six years, with production exceeding 2.7 million units in 2004, according to a new study by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Italian-owned car parts manufacturer Sogefi is to create 125 jobs at its Llantrisant factory in South Wales, as part of a $13.8 million expansion programme. The company, which makes filtration equipment, supplies parts for nearly two-thirds of UK-built cars. It employs 500 people in Wales, at Llantrisant and Tredegar, and also has a facility at Nottingham in the East Midlands. In North East England, a new $9.5 million automotive training centre is set to receive its first students. Gateshead College’s Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE), located on the Team Valley Trading Estate, will have the most up-to-date facilities in the region and will offer training in a wide range of skills for the automotive, manufacturing and logistics industries.

Road traffic in the UK grew by an estimated 1.7 per cent between 2003 and 2004, according to the latest statistical bulletin from the Department for Transport. Goods vehicle and light van traffic grew by 3.1 per cent and 5.1 per cent respectively, while car traffic was up by 1.3 per cent. The highest growth was seen on the UK’s motorway network, with traffic levels increasing by 3.9 per cent over the year. Meanwhile, the Highways Agency has awarded contracts worth $238.7 million for major road improvement schemes in Kent in South East England. The contracts cover widening sections of the M25 London Orbital near Dartford and parts of the A2 highway, which runs between the M25 and Bean in Kent.


West End office rents begin to nudge upwards
The volume of prime office space marketed across Central London continued to fall during the first quarter of 2005, from 27.7 million sq ft to 27 million sq ft, according to core (central offices research), the latest quarterly market survey by DTZ Research. The availability ratio stood at 12.5 per cent at the end of March, while take-up was considerably lower than in the fourth quarter of 2004, at 2.95 million sq ft. This was bolstered by a number of major pre-lets in the City and on its fringes.

The volume of space under offer increased to 3.4 million sq ft at the end of the quarter, and the level of known requirements continued to fall, totalling 4.4 million sq ft, almost 20 per cent less than at the end of last year. The level of construction starts declined from 1.2 million sq ft in the first quarter to 570,000 sq ft. Completions amounted to 1.2 million sq ft, reducing the total quantity of space under construction to 5.5 million sq ft. About half of this was speculative.

Headline rents and inducements have remained unchanged in the City since the middle of 2003, at $81.00 (£45) per sq ft and 36 months for a 15-year lease. In the West End, however, prime rents nudged upwards from $112.50 to $117.00 per sq ft over the quarter, and there continued to be downward pressure on incentives, according to DTZ.


Wealth of business accommodation in the pipeline
A new 100,00 sq ft speculative development is planned on a prime site directly opposite the Bank of England, in the heart of the City of London financial district. The development, at 1 Lothbury, should be complete by the end of 2008. In east London, the London Development Agency is planning to build a speculative 50,000 sq ft second phase of the Royals Business Park in Docklands. Larger units from the first phase, including the 242,000 sq ft Building 1000, remain available. The 1.6 million sq ft scheme, opposite London City Airport, is the largest business park in Greater London.

The world-renowned Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, South East England, are to be expanded by 725,000 sq ft, creating a 1 million sq ft film studio. At the same time, developers are to build further offices at the scheme, which they hope will attract more film and media-related companies eager to be part of the UK’s fast-growing film industry. Units will be available on 10- to 15-year leases, and work will be phased over a 10-year period, during which time the studios will remain open for business.

A large amount of new logistics and distribution space is set to come to the market in the next few months. One developer, Gazeley, has plans for 1 million sq ft of speculatively built sheds across the southern part of England. It proposes to build two giant sheds, of 350,000 sq ft and 500,000 sq ft, at its 50-acre G.Park site at Bristol, with rents set at around $10 per sq ft, and a 232,000 sq ft scheme at Dagenham in Essex. In 2004, the company built 2 million sq ft of speculative space, of which around a quarter is so far let.

Another builder, Prologis, is to double its UK target for 2005 to 4.5 million sq ft, with 2.2 million sq ft of new speculative space outside its core West Midlands market. It has plans for buildings in Cheshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire and Wiltshire. Internationally, the company controls 350 million sq ft of logistics space around the globe.

A $177 million business park is to be built on the former TRW Automotive site at Solihull in the West Midlands. The Green is a 57-acre development that will include 330,000 sq ft of office space, a conference centre and a four-star hotel. A similar sum will be spent to transform the site of the former BBC offices at Pebble Mill in Birmingham into a science and technology park that will offer nearly 390,000 sq ft of R&D space for the medical and healthcare industries. The development links into the West Midlands’ Central Technology Belt, a hi-tech corridor that runs along the A38 from Aston Science Park in Birmingham to Malvern Science Park in Worcestershire.

Future Foundations, the regeneration body for Walsall, Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire, plans to spend $72 million over the next three years to transform a number of derelict sites across the area. Projects include the $324 million Walsall Waterfront development and a new training centre for local manufacturing companies and students. At Cambridge in Eastern England, a new 40,000 sq ft laboratory is to be developed at Chesterford Research Park. High-quality R&D buildings are in short supply in the region, and the $21.6 million building is said to be the first speculative lab scheme there in five years.

In Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, work is under way at Quest Park, a 20-acre mixed use development on land formerly occupied by DuPont. The scheme will provide offices ranging upwards in size from 2,000 sq ft and light industrial units starting at 15,000 sq ft, with the first buildings ready for occupation by the autumn. At nearby Barnsley, six new speculative business units will be completed by the end of August at Shortwood Business Park, one of three developments within a mile of J36 of the M1, known collectively as Sector 36 Business Parks. The site will provide 60,000 sq ft of speculative industrial development, with units ranging in size from 6,000 sq ft to 25,000 sq ft.


Around the regions
Boston Communications Group (BCGI), a US-based supplier of voice and data technology to wireless service providers, is to open an office in London to serve the EMEA region. Alterbox, a Croatian communications and messaging company, has set up a similar office in Wembley, Greater London, while OpTier, a New York-based provider of transaction workload management software, has opened its European headquarters in nearby Hendon. cVidya, an Israeli provider of next-generation revenue assurance solutions, has also opened an office in the capital.

AppLabs, a Philadelphia-based software testing and development company, has opened an office in London to meet growing European demand for its services. CBL Data Recovery Technologies, a US-based data recovery specialist, has opened a new UK service facility in Chiswick, west London, to complement its existing laboratory in North East England. The new centre houses drop-off reception and advisory services for computer users who have damaged digital storage media, such as hard disk drives, magnetic tape and flash memory cards.

Precise Biometrics, a Swedish fingerprint and smart card security specialist, has opened an office in London. The company’s systems are designed to replace keys, personal identification numbers and passwords, and to enhance the integrity of identity cards and passports. It is aiming to strengthen its market position in relation to identity card programmes throughout Europe.

Dutch-based international bank ABN AMRO has acquired Priory Group from London-based private equity firm Doughty Hanson & Co for $1.5 billion. Priory Group is a leading independent UK provider of mental healthcare and specialist educational services. It operates over 1,700 beds across a network of more than 40 sites, including hospitals, care homes and specialist care and educational facilities.

Nexans, a French supplier of cables and cabling systems, is to create a new business unit called Nexans Intelligent Enterprise Solutions (IES), based in Basingstoke, South East England. The company will develop products and services under a range of Nexans brands, including LANsense, LANConnect and GIGAPath.

US-based wireless communications company Vocera Communications has opened an office in Reading, South East England to support the launch of its Vocera Communications System. The system combines wireless local area network, voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and speech recognition technologies to allow mobile workers within buildings or campuses to communicate with one another via wearable badges.

MacDermid, a US-based producer of specialty chemical products for the electronics, metal finishing and graphic arts industries, has acquired coated film supplier Autotype International, based in Wantage, South East England. Autotype’s specialty coated film products are used widely in the electronics and printing industries, and the company also has locations in Chicago, Singapore and Denmark.

Chesapeake Corporation, a US-based packaging specialist, has set up a design studio and a product development group at its Field Boxmore subsidiary manufacturing plant in Nottingham in the East Midlands. Chesapeake is a leading supplier of folding cartons, leaflets and labels, and plastic packaging for niche markets; it has more than 50 locations worldwide. The new facility will concentrate on constructional design and new product development, and is designed to strengthen the company’s position in the European paperboard packaging market.

US-based photographic giant Eastman Kodak Company is consolidating its European research operations with the opening of a new research division facility in Cambridge, Eastern England, where it will collaborate with the many world-class technology businesses in the area. The site will be fully operational by the end of this year and initially will employ up to 30 people.

Austrian company Palfinger, which manufactures hydraulic lifting, loading and handling systems, has acquired Ratcliff Tail Lifts, based in Welwyn Garden City in Eastern England. Ratcliff has 40 years’ experience in the design and production of lifts for commercial and passenger markets and employs more than 200 people.

Landia, a Danish manufacturer of pumps and mixers, has more than doubled the size of its UK and Irish operation with a new office development on its site at Whitchurch in the West Midlands. The company’s products are widely used for heavy-duty wastewater applications in the water, food, agricultural and environmental industries.

The Protomold Company, a US-based specialist in rapid injection moulding, is to open a new facility in the West Midlands to serve the European market. The company will establish sales, customer services and manufacturing operations that will employ 40 staff. The UK operation will focus initially on prototypes and the low-volume production needs of design engineers in the UK and Germany, and will expand later to serve other European countries.

US-owned Musco Lighting, which relocated to Bolton in North West England two years ago, is expanding again, with a move to a 10,000 sq ft warehouse in the Wingates area of the town. The company’s sports lighting products are all manufactured in the US, and the Bolton facility puts it within an hour of major ports and airports, including Liverpool and Manchester, which are both less than an hour away. Musco currently employs 18 people, though it plans to increase this to 25 by the end of the year.

Kea Designer Sportswear UK, a joint venture between local company Cooneen Textiles and Kea Australia, has announced a $605,000 expansion of its operation at Fivemiletown in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The expansion will support the company’s drive to sell its elite designer sportswear in UK markets and help it to explore new ones, such as the growing school sportswear market. Kea has recently won contracts to design and produce sportswear for high-profile clients such as the Great Britain Rowing Team and the UK Sport World Class Performance Programme.

US-based Wombat Financial Software is to establish a global centre for software engineering excellence in Belfast, the Northern Ireland capital. The investment will enable Wombat to focus on product development and customer support, while in the longer term the site will become a base for European sales. Wombat’s software is used to transfer stock exchange data to remote trading floors in banks.

Caterpillar, the US manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, has invested nearly $11 million in a new engineering research centre in Larne, Northern Ireland, where the company trades under the name FG Wilson Engineering Ltd. The Caterpillar Electric Power Engineering Centre of Excellence is a sophisticated, multi-disciplined facility that will carry out research into the performance and control of engineering generators. The centre will create 29 new jobs.

Vortis Technologies Ltd, a wireless antenna technology company, has chosen Edinburgh in Scotland as its new operational and manufacturing headquarters, in partnership with Scottish Enterprise and UK Trade & Investment’s Global Entrepreneurs Programme (GEP). The programme has helped provide the company with $865,000 in seed capital, on a more favourable basis than would be the case with traditional Silicon Valley funding. It has also provided it with introductions to business, technology and financial networks via serial entrepreneurs known as ‘Deal-makers’. The GEP is already working with 85 entrepreneurs, 21 of whom have developed business opportunities within the UK.

Massachusetts-based medical products manufacturer Haemonetics has opened a $2.6 million warehouse extension to it facility at Bothwell in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The new building is part of a $4.3 million investment plan over the next 18 months, which will bring all of the company’s Scottish operations together on a single site. The company, which manufactures products used in the collection and processing of blood, employs nearly 240 staff in Scotland, including 22 new jobs created by the latest investment. The expansion was supported by Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grants worth a total of $865,000.

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