February 2005

News

UK stays ahead in FDI as global recovery gathers pace
The UK remains the top destination in Europe for inward investment, accounting for around a third of total inflows in 2004 with $55 billion, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). This was up from $21 billion in 2003. The UK has also increased its share of European investment stock and maintained the highest total, an indicator that some commentators see as more reliable than inflows of capital, which tend to be volatile. Worldwide, UNCTAD reports that the main FDI drivers of broad-based economic recovery, equity market valuations and merger and acquisition activity are now in place for an expansion to take place over the medium term, ending the downturn that began in 2001

World investment flows in 2004 rose by 6 per cent to $612 billion, according to the Geneva-based organisation. Flows to developed countries declined by 16 per cent to $321 billion, but this was offset by inflows to developing countries and to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Developing countries and CEE countries now account for around 42 per cent of world FDI inflows, compared with 27 per cent during 2001-2003. Inflows into the UK and the US recovered and the US, with $121 billion of FDI, overtook China to reclaim the title of biggest overall FDI recipient. Flows into the Asia-Pacific region reached $166 billion, a 55 per cent increase year-on-year. FDI flows to Latin America and the Caribbean increased for the first time in five years, growing 37 per cent to $69 billion.

According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2003 the Netherlands was the largest investor in the UK, with flows of $7 billion, or 30 per cent of that year’s total. The UK’s total stock of direct investment at the end of 2003 stood at $648 billion, compared with $617 billion at the end of 2002. Stock owned by investors in the Americas totalled $283.7 billion, up $21 billion year-on-year, while that held by European companies amounted to $299.2 billion, up $0.38 billion. Asian stock stood at $37 billion, stock owned by companies in Australasia and Oceania at $27.2 billion and by African countries at $1.1 billion. The US was by far the biggest investor by country, holding 39 per cent of total stock at the end of 2003. The Netherlands accounted for 13 per cent and France for 11 per cent.

Earnings from direct investment in the UK in 2003 stood at $40.3 billion, an increase of $12.7 billion from the previous year, and this was largely claimed by European-owned companies. The three biggest investors – the US, the Netherlands and France – accounted for 71 per cent of all earnings between them. The US earned $18.4 billion, an increase of $5.9 billion from the previous year, while French- and Dutch-owned companies each earned $5.1 billion (up $2.7 billion and $0.4 billion respectively).


UK remains favourite location for European HQs
The UK remains the favoured location within the European Union for foreign investors to set up their European headquarters (EHQ). There are more than 1,900 EHQs in London alone, with a further 1,860 in South East and Eastern England, according to research collated by government investment body UK Trade & Investment. In the first half of 2004, more than 20 companies set up EHQ operations in the UK, while fewer than five set up in France and Germany.

London remains the most popular city for such investments. The European Cities Monitor survey by Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker has shown the UK capital repeatedly beat other leading European cities over the years, in key categories such as access to market, availability of qualified staff, languages spoken and quality of telecommunications. New EHQs in 2004 included that of global investment bank Lehman Brothers, which opened a facility in London to house 3,000 staff, and software provider Recruitmax.

Hong Kong keeps crown as world’s freest economy
Hong Kong ranks as the freest economy in the world for the eleventh year running, while the US has dropped out of the top ten for the first time, according to the 2005 Index of Economic Freedom, published by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal. The former British territory, which was returned to Chinese rule in 1997, was followed in the rankings by Singapore, Luxembourg and Estonia, with Ireland and New Zealand tied for fifth place. The rest of the top ten was made up of the UK, Denmark, Iceland and Australia, with Chile ranked 11th and the US in 12th place, tied with Switzerland.

The economic freedom scores for 155 countries were compiled by analysing 50 economic variables, grouped into categories such as banking and finance, taxes, monetary policy, trade policy, property rights and capital flows. The Heritage Foundation – an organisation that promotes low taxes and limited government regulation – assigned each nation a score from one to five in each category, reflecting the level of government ‘interference’. According to the authors of the report, Hong Kong was a ‘poster economy’ for economic freedom thanks to its free port, low government intervention, minimal capital controls and fair rule of law. However, they also pointed to a deterioration in press freedom in the territory and warned that its rating next year could fall if it went ahead with a planned tax on goods and services.

The US scored the same number of points as in 2004 but fell from 8th position, overtaken by countries such as Chile, Australia and Iceland, which opened up their economies further while the US was “treading water”. The report noted that US economic freedom had also been held back by stronger regulatory laws and increased anti-dumping trade barriers. Overall, 17 countries were classified as having ‘free’ economies, 56 as ‘mostly free’, 70 as mostly ‘unfree’ and 12 as ‘repressed’. In Europe, Germany ranked 18th, Italy 26th and France 44th. Japan was 39th, while China moved up from 128th to 112th. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the countries at the bottom of the list were Burma and North Korea.

Acquisitions cut across wide range of sectors
Inflows of FDI in the UK are regularly boosted by mergers and acquisitions, as overseas investors continue to find the skills and market penetration of British companies an attractive proposition. The latest M&A announcements see activity continuing strongly across a range of sectors. Royal DSM, for example, a Dutch firm that specialises in life science and nutritional products, performance materials and industrial chemicals, is to acquire Neo-Resins, the coating resins business of Avecia, which is based in Manchester in North West England, for $367.8 million. The acquisition will be completed in the first quarter of 2005, after which the company will trade as DSM NeoResins.

Irish bio-pharmaceuticals R&D company Alltracel Pharmaceuticals is to acquire Westone Products, based in London, which specialises in oral care products. The acquisition will be for an initial sum of $4.1 million in cash and shares, followed by further sums upon completion and depending on financial performance. German pharmaceuticals distributor Celesio AG has acquired Healthcare Logistics Ltd, a UK service provider for pharmaceutical manufacturers, as it expands throughout Europe. Healthcare Logistics, founded in 1976, has four warehouses and numerous depots around the UK and offers a variety of services to the UK pharmaceutical industry, including the warehousing and distribution of medicines.

Teknor Apex Company, a US materials science company, has acquired the engineering thermoplastics compounding business of Chem Polymer, based in Oldbury in the West Midlands. Chem Polymer produces reinforced, filled and specially modified compounds for automotive, appliance, electrical, electronic and other applications. It operates two plants in the UK and one in the US. Chinese environmental company Greencool Technology Holdings has acquired Leyland Product Developments (LPD), a vehicle design company based in Leyland, North West England. LPD will work with a sister company to Greencool in China that is involved in commercial vehicle manufacturing, although it will continue to operate as a standalone company.

US-based industrial group Cooper Industries has acquired MEDC, a manufacturer of emergency equipment based in Nottingham in the East Midlands. MEDC specialises in the design and manufacture of manual, visual and audio alarms and public address speakers. Its products are used wherever there is a risk of explosion and particularly in harsh industrial, marine and commercial environments. The company will become part of Cooper Industries’ Cooper Crouse-Hinds division. Kidde, a manufacturer of smoke alarm and firefighting equipment based in Colnbrook, South East England, has agreed to a $2.7 billion takeover by US manufacturer United Technologies (UTC). The deal promises to reunite Kidde with another UK firm, Chubb, which UTC bought for $1 billion in June 2003. The acquisition will potentially create the world’s second largest fire protection firm.

French company Lactalis, one of the world’s leading cheese manufacturers, has acquired the McLelland Group, based in Glasgow, Scotland. McLelland is one of the UK’s biggest producers of cheddar cheese, with production facilities in Scotland and Wales, and brands that include Seriously Strong, one of the UK’s fastest-growing cheddar brands. Lactalis is a family-owned company that is active in 140 countries; it will export McLelland brands that are currently only available in the UK. Another Scottish company, salmon farming business Kinloch Damph, has been acquired by Scottish Sea Farms, which is jointly owned by Norwegian operators Leroy Seafood and Sal/Mar. Kinloch Damph supplies smolts (juvenile salmon) to farmers from its base at Wester Ross in north west Scotland.

Science initiatives to aid technology start-up companies
In a joint project, US computer giant IBM is to create a European Deep Computing Visualisation Centre at the Institute of Life Science (ILS) at the University of Swansea in South Wales. The centre, the result of a long-term collaboration agreement, will research solutions for healthcare treatment, personalised medicine and disease control. Along with its technical expertise, IBM will provide the centre with ‘Blue C’, a supercomputer that is claimed to be one of the fastest in the world in this area of research

A Technium incubator centre for high-tech businesses has opened at Swansea, with seven businesses initially moving into a new building on the campus. The centre is part of a network of Technium centres across Wales dedicated to different sectors of economic activity. In a pilot project, the Swansea centre will be connected with a World Incubator Network that will link more than 2,000 young technology companies in Wales, Scotland and the Pacific Incubator Network (PIN), which stretches along the west coast of the US from Canada to Mexico. Discussions are also in progress with incubator networks in Spain, Portugal, Finland, China, Japan and New Zealand. Another Technium centre – for sustainable technologies – is nearing completion at the nearby Baglan Energy Park.

In North West England, the International Centre of Digital Content (ICDC) at John Moores University in Liverpool is moving to the Liverpool Digital site at Edge Lane. The site is being developed as a centre of excellence for the ICT sector, and the relocation will enable ICDC to focus on the development of new technologies for digital content, as well as provide associated incubator facilities. In Manchester, a new $1.9 million facility has been opened to house spin-out companies from the University of Manchester. The North Campus Incubator Units, officially opened by Chancellor Gordon Brown, will house high-tech companies in three disused railway arches converted into glass-fronted office accommodation.

The University of Cambridge, in Eastern England, has been named best university in the world for science in a survey carried out by the Times Higher Educational Supplement. The survey of 1,300 academics in 88 countries placed Oxford second and Harvard third. The UK was the only European country whose universities featured in the top ten. Cambridge has recently received a funding boost with a $1.8 million donation to honour the life and research of Professor Stephen Hawking. The anonymous benefaction will be known as the Stephen Hawking Endowment for Cosmological Research and will be used to support the work of young cosmologists.

The Inland Revenue has relaxed its definition of companies qualifying for additional tax relief for expenditure on research and development. Previously, companies qualified if they had fewer then 250 employees and had a turnover of less than $43.3 million or a balance sheet below $21.7 million. These limits will now rise to $65.5 million and $55.9 million respectively. The relaxation of the rules will largely benefit smaller companies that have relatively high R&D expenditure but low corporate tax bills.


Renewable energy projects start to come online
Two high-profile wind energy projects off the coast of Eastern England have been completed and have started to produce electricity. At Ness Point in Lowestoft, Suffolk, the UK’s largest wind turbine has been completed by Ness Point Ltd, a subsidiary of SLP Energy. The company took only five days to assemble the Vestas2 NM923 turbine, which has a 262ft tower and a generating capacity of 2.75MW, enough to power 1,530 homes. Planning permission has been granted for a new centre for offshore renewables technology at Ness Point, the most easterly point in the UK. The new centre will provide office accommodation for small to medium-sized renewables companies, along with exhibition and conference space, helping to make Lowestoft a hub for this emerging industry.

Along the coast in Norfolk, all 30 of the wind turbines at the Scroby Sands offshore wind farm have completed their initial 10-day test runs and are now capable of producing 60MW of electricity, or enough to power 41,000 homes. The $143 million project, built by E.ON UK, the German energy service provider that owns Powergen, will prevent the emission of up to 75,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. With Scroby Sands – one of the first operational wind farms in the UK – E.ON’s renewable portfolio now generates enough electricity to meet the domestic needs of a city the size of Manchester. E.ON is planning capital expenditure of $3.6 billion in the UK over the next three years, primarily to upgrade its distribution network. The company also plans to establish what it claims will be Europe’s largest gas-fired power station on the Isle of Grain, east of London, and will invest further in wind power and biomass generation facilities.

Another German company, WPS Windpark Solutions, based in Husum, has taken a $780,000 share in a series of projects owned by Scottish company Renewable Energy Development Group (RED Group), which is involved in wind, hydroelectric and biomass power projects. WPS’s activities span all phases of wind farm planning, including development, construction and financing, while RED Group owns a number of sites in Scotland that have development potential. The two companies have formed an Edinburgh-based joint venture to develop a portfolio of projects over the coming years. Scotland is estimated to have 25 per cent of Europe’s potential for wind energy, with the UK as a whole accounting for 40 per cent of the total.

Novera Macquarie Renewable Energy (NMRE) of Australia, which is jointly owned by Novera Energy and Macquarie Bank, has acquired the green energy business of United Utilities, based in Warrington in North West England, for approximately $121 million. The UK company owns and operates electricity distribution and water networks in the North West region and manages utility and business process services for clients in the UK and overseas. It has sold 40 green energy projects to NMRE, with a total generating capacity of 72.7MW. These include 29 landfill gas sites, ten small-scale hydropower sites and a mine gas site, though it has retained its wind farm development portfolio.

The government meanwhile has allocated $1.9 million for 15 new solar photovoltaic (PV) projects across the UK, bringing the total amount awarded to solar projects since 2002 to $33 million. The government wants to see the UK generating 10 per cent of its total energy needs from renewable resources by 2010. Since it was set up in 2002, the Energy Saving Trust has assisted 166 medium- and large-scale projects across the country. Recipients of the latest round of awards include London’s National Maritime Museum, which will incorporate a PV array into its Eco-exhibition; a new primary school in Suffolk, which will use cells to generate 20 per cent of its electricity needs; and Plymouth Council in South West England, which will build 112 hybrid-crystalline PV modules into the roof of a new bus station, having already installed 350 solar-powered bus stops.

Statistics show steady rise in freight transport
The Department for Transport (DfT) has published the seventh edition of Transport Trends, the National Statistics publication that provides an overview of key trends in the transport sector, with figures and charts comparing data from the past 20 years. It is a sister publication to Transport Statistics Great Britain, a more detailed reference analysis of the transport sector. Transport Trends 2004 is available free of charge from the DfT: see the department’s website at: www.dft.gov.uk.

In the section on freight and logistics, the publication reports that the amount of freight moved in the UK has increased overall by 43 per cent between 1980 and 2003, from 175 to 250 billion tonne-kilometres. Road freight now accounts for 64 per cent of all goods moved, compared with 53 per cent in 1980, and 83 per cent of all goods lifted. A large part of the increase is due to a longer average length of haul – 92km in 2003 compared with 67km in 1980 – together with changes in distribution patterns, such as regional distribution centres and just-in-time deliveries, and a decline in the amount of bulk traffic.

The average length of haul for goods moved by rail is 210km, and by water 460km. Rail freight accounts for around 8 per cent of all goods moved, down from 10 per cent in 1980, while the share of goods moved by water has declined from 31 per cent to 24 per cent over the same period. Freight moved by pipeline (mostly petroleum products) accounts for 4 per cent of the total. Rail is used to transport 74 per cent of coal and coke shipments, while water transport accounts for 73 per cent of petroleum product movements.

The amount of international freight lifted increased by 68 per cent between 1980 and 2003, from 252 million tonnes to 423 million tonnes. The great majority of it – 95 per cent – travels by sea, while 4 per cent travels through the Channel Tunnel and less than 1 per cent by air. Although air freight accounts for a small tonnage, it claims about a quarter of the total value. Investment in ports and airports has risen steadily over the period.

The number of passengers passing through UK airports more than trebled between 1980 and 2003, from 50 million to 177 million. In 2003, 154 million passengers arrived or departed on international flights while 23 million travelled between domestic airports. UK residents made 3.5 times as many trips abroad in 2003 as they did in 1980 – 61 million compared with 18 million. Seventy per cent of visitors to the UK in 2003 came from Europe, 16 per cent from North America and 14 per cent from elsewhere. Of these, 71 per cent travelled by air, 18 per cent by sea (down from 41 per cent in 1980) and 11 per cent via the Channel Tunnel.

UK companies make big contribution to Airbus project
The GE Engine Services facility at Nantgarw in Wales has been named as the first of a worldwide network of service centres for the engines that will power the Airbus A380, the world’s largest aircraft, which was unveiled in Toulouse, France on 18 January. The contract is worth several million dollars and will call for a new product line at the facility. GE Wales, which employs 760 engineers and technicians, also won a contract last November to service the CFM56-7 series engines that power Ryanair’s 59-strong fleet of Boeing 737-800s. Aerospace is a key industry sector in Wales, employing 20,000 people and contributing around $1.9 billion a year to the economy. The wings for the A380 – a pan-European project between the UK and partners across Europe – are manufactured at Broughton in North Wales.

In all, the Airbus project has helped to create some 21,000 skilled jobs in the UK and supports a further 41,000 indirectly. Other companies involved in the project include Rolls-Royce in Derby, which supplied the Trent 900 engines; Dunlop Aerospace in Coventry, which helped to develop the wheels and brake systems; Goodrich Actuation Systems in Wolverhampton, which designed and manufactured some of the flight control systems; and Airbus UK in Filton, which designed and developed the wings.

The UK is taking a lead in ‘smart’ transport and the reduction of vehicle emissions with two new $28.5 million centres of excellence. The first, which will specialise in fuel cell and low carbon technologies, will be based in Loughborough in the East Midlands, and will bring together government, academics and manufacturers to develop new technologies such as hybrid vehicle systems. The second centre, dealing with transport telematics and technologies for sustainable mobility, will specialise in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) technologies, which are used to help tackle road congestion and improve safety and transport efficiency.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has set up a new travel information and journey planning service, Transport Direct. The system brings together information from travel operators, including bus, coach and rail services, and local authorities, allowing users to compare journey times for travel by private car and public transport, and with maps to help them plan their journey door-to-door. It is available online at: www.transportdirect.info. Meanwhile, new light rail systems for commuters have been announced in Liverpool and in the West Midlands. Liverpool, in North West England, is to get a new 18km tramway, stretching from the King’s Waterfront to Kirkby town centre, while the Midland Metro light rapid transit system is to be extended from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill.

Daventry International Railport, the facility operated by logistics company Exel at the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) Logistics Park in the East Midlands, has reported that 2004 was its busiest year since operations began in 1997. Managers predicted that full-year volumes would be nearly twice as high as in 2002, at 57,500 units (containers and swapbodies handled) compared with 29,631, and just 12,978 in 1998. Reasons for the Railport’s success include a resurgence of interest in rail freight in the UK and the addition of new services, such as services to Scotland and to the port of Felixstowe on the east coast.


Truck and van sales reach record levels
Sales of commercial vehicles rose in 2004 by 7.2 per cent year-on-year, to a new record of just under 390,000, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Sales in December were up 9.5 per cent at 28,500, the highest figure recorded for that month. The biggest demand was for medium-sized panel vans such as the popular Ford Transit, though sales of light, car-based vans fell by 3.3 per cent. However, sales of trucks over 3.5 tonnes rose to reach a 15-year high, at 56,200 units. Market leader DAF Trucks reported sales well beyond its forecasts and predicted that the market would hold up into the new year. With strong order books for 2005, sales of commercial vehicles provide a good indicator of the strength of the economy as a whole.

Ford Motor Company is to invest a further $321 million at its diesel engine plant in Dagenham, Essex in Eastern England and will create up to 460 new jobs, to meet rising demand for diesel cars across Europe. It will produce 400,000 units a year of a diesel engine developed jointly with PSA Peugeot Citroën, bringing Dagenham’s output to almost 1 million units a year. The 1.4- and 1.6-litre engines will be used in the Ford Fiesta, Fusion and Focus models and in cars built by Ford subsidiary Volvo and the company’s Japanese affiliate Mazda. The project has been supported by a Selective Finance for Investment grant of $8.6 million from the Department of Trade and Industry. Ford’s new investment brings its total at Dagenham to over $1 billion since 2003, and will boost the workforce to just under 5,500. Expansion is also under way at Ford’s petrol engine plant at Bridgend in Wales, reinforcing the UK’s position as the company’s prime engine manufacturing site in Europe.


New internet users opt for permanent connections over dial-up
Between November 2003 and November 2004 there was an increase of 4.1 per cent in the number of active subscriptions to the internet, according to the latest survey of internet service providers (ISPs) by the Office of National Statistics. The market share for permanent connections continued to increase, standing at 37.7 per cent in October, compared with 20 per cent a year earlier. This represented a monthly increase of 4.8 per cent from October, and year-on-year growth of 87.8 per cent, as broadband, cable and leased line technologies become ever more popular. Dial-up connections still account for 62.3 per cent of all subscriptions, but the percentage of dial-up connections among new subscribers has fallen to 18 per cent.

An error crept into last month’s web news. In the story ‘Internet sales more than double in value’, we stated incorrectly that the government’s sale of spectrum to 3G mobile operators raised the sum of $42.8 million. This, of course, should have read $42.8 billion. Apologies for the error.

Modest pick-up seen in office rents
Office rental levels in the City of London are still falling at a year-on-year rate of around 4.5 per cent but September 2004 saw growth of 0.8 per cent in the West End, the first year-on-year increase since April 2002, according to the latest Marketbeat report from Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker. Prime rents grew by 3.6 per cent in the year to September. Demand is stronger in the retail sector, with rents for retail warehouses growing by nearly 7 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2004, while those for high street retail premises rose by 2.5 per cent. In the industrial sector, prime rents grew marginally by 0.8 per cent in the year to end-September, boosted by growth in East Anglia. Demand has also been relatively strong in the ‘Golden Triangle’ area of the Midlands, which links Birmingham, Northampton and Leicester and is popular with distribution companies due to its central location.

The flexible managed office (FMO) sector, which includes business centres and serviced offices, has held up better than many sectors of the property market over the past three years, according to a new report from DTZ Research. There is now around 1.1 million sq ft of FMO space in the UK, or about 1 per cent of total stock, and the turnover of major operators has doubled to $1.1 billion since 1999. DTZ points out that the cost of leasing FMO space can be up to 33 per cent cheaper than renting property on a conventional long-term lease, and predicts that the sector will continue to grow at an annual rate of around 5 per cent over the next two to three years.

New development projects offer choice of high-class accommodation
New developments continue to be undertaken around the country. In Barnsley, South Yorkshire a wide range of new accommodation has recently come onto the market. For instance, Claycliffe Office Park, a speculative development located just ten minutes from the M1 motorway and Barnsley town centre, offers nine office units ranging in size from 1,200 sq ft to 3,100 sq ft. Three speculative office units are under construction on the Maple Park development at Wentworth Business Park. The offices, near the J36 Tankersley intersection on the M1, range in size from 3,000 sq ft to 5,000 sq ft and will be ready for occupation, either for sale or to let, by the spring.

 
Claycliffe Office Park, Bullhouse Mill, and Maple Park, Barnsley

Bretton Point, a 70,000 sq ft manufacturing/distribution development, has been completed close to junction 38 of the M1, forming part of the Dearne Mills Industrial Complex near Darton. The development has nine loading docks, with the capacity to install a further seven. A 19,000 sq ft development at the Burton Road Business Park in Monk Bretton, near the town centre, consists of 19 industrial units, which are due for completion in March. A 5,000 sq ft unit is available at Stairfoot Business Park, while the Old Corn Mill at Millhouse Green is being converted into flexible office space with views across the River Don.

In nearby Doncaster, 2004 was an extremely busy year for construction projects, with 3.1 million sq ft of space being taken up by expansion and inward investment projects. One of the town’s biggest developments is the brand-new Robin Hood Airport with its 145,000 sq ft terminal, but there is also plenty of new office and industrial space. New buildings of 350,000 sq ft apiece are going up at the DEC and Interchange sites, while a speculative 120,000 sq ft unit is being built at Helios Park. Other developments are under construction at West Moor Park, Firstpoint Business Park and at a former industrial site on Wheatley Hall Road.

Also in Yorkshire and Humber, 16 workshop units are to be built at Allerton Bywater Millennium Community in Leeds. The networkspace development, located on a former colliery site, is expected to provide around 100 jobs for local people. The total size of the scheme is 42,200 sq ft, and it will include four office and 12 light industrial/workspace units. At Swansea in South Wales, a $7.6 million terrace of high-quality office accommodation is to be built in a prime location in the SA1 Waterfront area. The development, which will contain 32,300 sq ft of space divided into units of 3,000 sq ft to 5,000 sq ft, will be targeted at small and medium-sized enterprises.

In the West Midlands, phase two of the Crown Point industrial/warehouse development is under way, with a number of large units to let. Work has also started on a $13.3 million e-Innovation Centre at the town’s University of Wolverhampton campus at Priorslee. The centre is one of the flagship developments along the Wolverhampton Telford Technology Corridor, which stretches along the M54 motorway. It aims to attract high-tech companies to the area and should be ready for occupation by late 2005. At the other end of the technology corridor, on Stafford Road in Wolverhampton, phase four of the Wolverhampton Science Park is under way, with three plots covering 7.3 acres. Nearby is i54 at Wobaston Road, a major development site which offers 225 acres of space.

In Liverpool in North West England, preparation work is under way on the site of a former bus depot, part of the Edge Lane development, which is planned to become a centre for knowledge-based companies. In the city centre, the former Vanilla Factory on Fleet Street, in the Ropewalks regeneration area, has been refurbished and a new four-storey building has been completed to provide large office floorplate accommodation. Some 80 per cent of the space is already let or under offer. Elsewhere in the region, the new West Lancashire Investment Centre is nearing completion at Skelmersdale. The centre provides 34 highly-specified office units for high-tech businesses, ranging in size from 182 sq ft to 3,200 sq ft.

In the North East, the first two office buildings have been completed at the Morton Palms development at Darlington in Co. Durham. One block comprises 38,800 sq ft with 137 car parking spaces, while the second contains 32,200 sq ft with 108 parking spaces. The buildings are available to single occupiers or can be split into multiple units, depending on demand. Also in Co. Durham, the first company has moved onto the Queen’s Meadow Business Park in Hartlepool. Deepdale Solutions, a manufacturer of aluminium curtain walling, has created 41 new jobs with its move to a new 20,000 sq ft building. The Queen’s Meadow site covers 142 acres off Stockton Road, and has easy access to the A689 highway.

Around the Regions
Exstream Software, a US-based provider of personalisation software solutions to business, has set up a UK subsidiary and opened an office in London to cover the UK and Ireland markets. The subsidiary, Exstream Software UK, will provide a range of services, including pre- and post-sales technical support, training and consultancy, and will focus initially on financial services, banking, utilities, insurance and service provider organisations.

Another US company, Telenity, a provider of platforms and applications for mobile and IP-based telecoms networks, has opened a London office to cover Western Europe and Southern Africa. Its products include content and service delivery platforms, multimedia messaging solutions, a location-enabling server and a variety of revenue-generating applications. e-Dialog, a US-based e-mail marketing company, has set up e-Dialog UK, a wholly owned subsidiary with offices in central London, which will serve as its European headquarters.

Aperio Technologies, a provider of virtual microscopy systems based in Vista, California, has opened a European operations centre in Alton, South East England. Virtual microscopy converts glass microscope slides to high-resolution digital slides for use in pathology, clinical, research and educational applications. Aperio’s new UK facility includes a customer service and support centre and a demonstration suite.


A new website promoting the West Midlands city of Wolverhampton has been launched at: www.wolverhamptoncity.co.uk. Developed by Wolverhampton City Marketing Partnership, the site contains a wealth of information for businesses thinking of locating there and links to other key sites. Another local initiative is the Wolverhampton Creative Industries Forum, which brings together academic and business organisations working to promote the creative industries sector across the city. Among the Forum’s goals are raising the profile of Wolverhampton as a creative city and enabling networking between creative industries. In particular, it wants to establish Wolverhampton as a regional and national centre of excellence in animation and related digital media.

German-owned Ensinger, a global leader in high-performance plastic products, has bought a 13-acre site at Parc Eirin, near Tonyrefail in South Wales, with plans to double the size of its operation in the principality. The company currently occupies 23,000 sq ft premises at nearby Llantrisant Business Park but will use the new site to build a new 60,000 sq ft factory, creating 50 new jobs and safeguarding 54 existing ones. The company established its first UK operation in 1987 with three people, and now employs 200 at six locations. It produces material and finished components for customers in sectors as diverse as food and drink, oil exploration, automotive and aerospace.

Excell Contact Centres, a subsidiary of Excell Global Services, based in Arizona, is to open a second UK call centre at Paisley in Scotland. The company already employs more than 360 people at Irvine, which is its European headquarters. The new centre will deal primarily with financial services clients and will create at least 180 jobs in management, administration, customer care, telesales and tele-marketing.

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