December 2007

NEWS

WEF rankings underline UK’s global competitiveness
The UK has been ranked ninth most competitive economy in the world in The Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008, published by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF). It moved up one place from 2006, overtaking the Netherlands. The UK received an excellent score for the quality of its infrastructure, and was ranked second in the world for the efficiency of its goods and financial markets. It scored highly on its flexible labour market (ranked 10th) and also scored well on indicators for innovation and business sophistication.

The United States topped the overall ranking, with Switzerland in second position, followed by Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Finland and Singapore. Chile was the highest ranked country in Latin America, followed by Mexico and Costa Rica. China and India continue to lead the way among large developing economies.

The rankings were calculated from available data and from the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the WEF together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes and business organisations) in the countries covered by the Report. This year, over 11,000 business leaders were polled in a record 131 countries. The survey captures a broad range of factors affecting an economy’s business climate. It also includes comprehensive listings of the main strengths and weaknesses of countries, making it possible to identify priorities for policy reform.

The Report’s overall competitiveness ranking is the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), introduced in 2004 and since refined based on feedback. The GCI is based on 12 pillars of competitiveness, including institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market sophistication, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation. Also included is an extensive section of data tables with global rankings covering over 110 indicators.

France ranked 18th overall, scoring well on infrastructure (2nd in the world) and business sophistication (10th) and technological innovation (17th), but hindered by an inflexible labour market (129th) and red tape (114th). Italy was 46th, with strengths in some areas balanced by weaknesses in others. Estonia, ranked 27th overall, continues to be the most competitive economy among the 12 countries that joined the European Union (EU) in 2004, according to the WEF.

 

London is still the best place in Europe to do business
Foreign direct investment into London has risen significantly over the past year, according to Think London, the capital’s official FDI agency. In the first half of fiscal 2007, from April to September, the agency saw a 12 per cent increase in companies locating to London from Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, compared with the same period of the previous year, creating a net 52 per cent increase in jobs. A key growth area is the ICT sector, which has seen a 13 per cent increase over the past year.

Over the same period, Think London increased by 61.5 per cent the number of established foreign companies it assisted to grow in London, thanks to its new dedicated business growth team. It has also successfully launched its ‘Touchdown London’ incubator and start-up service for Chinese companies, with an early entrant being Crystal Digital Technologies, a leading graphic design supplier to the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. The company is setting up in London to take advantage of the business opportunities offered by the London 2012 Olympics.

Michael Charlton, chief executive officer at Think London, commented: “London is the city attracting the largest number of FDI projects in Europe and is second only to Shanghai worldwide. Improving the city’s infrastructure, continuing to attract a good supply of high-quality talent, and ensuring an attractive fiscal and ‘business friendly’ environment are crucial to London’s continued success.”

The latest European Cities Monitor 2007 by global property consultant Cushman & Wakefield has once again ranked London as the top European city in which to locate a business – for the eighteenth consecutive year. London continued to increase its lead over Paris, ranked in second place.

The ECM survey, undertaken by market research firm Taylor Nelson Sofre, was based on interviews with senior managers and directors in charge of location at 500 top European companies. It looked at factors regarded as important by companies when deciding where to locate, and then compared the performance of 33 of Europe’s leading business cities on each factor. The UK capital came out top for half of the 12 factors ranked to give the overall league table.

Companies from emerging economies also view London as the best city in Europe in which to locate. Ernst & Young’s latest European Investment Monitor revealed that Indian FDI, for example, accounted for 14 per cent of all FDI projects into London during 2006/2007, up from 6 per cent over the same period in 2000/2001.

Another survey, the ninth European Regional Economic Growth Index by property fund manager LaSalle Investment Management, rates London the top European city for commercial property occupiers and investors, for the second year in a row. The city improved its position due to strong employment growth in the financial sector, and its infrastructure is already benefiting from work for the 2012 Olympics, according to the report.

LaSalle analysed the relative sizes, growth levels and business activity of 91 European cities. Paris, second last year and first the year before, was hit by lower forecasts of employment growth and slipped to third, overtaken by Munich. The worst performers were cities in Spain and Italy. All Spanish cities, except Valencia, slid down the rankings and Madrid, fifth last year, are now tenth. The report attributed this to the country’s economic slowdown following a long period of rapid expansion. Three British cities, however, were among the highest climbers: Birmingham, ranked 29th, Nottingham/Derby (30th) and Cardiff (47th).

“Most real estate markets are in pretty good shape on occupier demand fundamentals such as growth and activity. London in particular has benefited from its levels of growth this year, which have been helped by a lighter-touch regulatory regime than elsewhere,” said Alistair Seaton, national director at LaSalle. He added that the UK economy was predicted to see further robust growth in 2008. Other positive contributors to London’s future growth would include the development of the Thames Gateway scheme to the east of the capital and the planned London Gateway port at Shellhaven in Essex.

London’s capital contribution to UK economy
London accounts for 12 per cent of the UK’s population but contributes 19 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) and 15 per cent of jobs, according to a new City of London research report. Furthermore, Londoners contributed a net $25.4 billion to UK public finances in 2005-06. The report, London’s Place in the UK Economy, 2007-08, prepared by Oxford Economics, underlines the increased importance of London’s wealth- and tax-generating capabilities at a time when the overall UK budget balance is deteriorating. With the exception of the wider South East (comprising London, the South East and Eastern regions), all other regions in the UK have a net fiscal deficit.

The report shows that London is pivotal to the health and success of the wider UK economy, acting as a catalyst for capital and innovation throughout the regions. The city’s cluster effect, particularly in financial services, has seen rapid growth in productivity and a highly skilled labour force contribute to competitiveness on an international level. Financial and professional business services now generate around 13 per cent of total UK gross value-added.

London will continue to prosper over the next decade, concludes the report. It highlights the importance of the capital’s manufacturing sector, which is highly specialised, with 42 per cent of its jobs in publishing, printing and recorded media and 14 per cent in the manufacture of food and beverages. Another vital sector is tourism, which currently accounts for 5-6 per cent of the capital’s GDP and is set to grow in importance in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics. Almost one-third of the London population is foreign-born, with young, skilled jobseekers helping to ease labour market pressures.

London is also a key trading partner for the rest of the UK, and in 2006 imported more than $246 billion in goods and services from elsewhere in the country. Investment in public services, training and infrastructure are vital if its status is to be maintained, said the report.

“London’s contribution to the rest of the UK is not just via tax revenues and public finances. London attracts the best and brightest workers from around the world, draws tourists to the UK and acts as a funnel for business and capital investment to regional areas. People from all over the world want to do business here but our aviation hubs, public transport, training opportunities and quality of life need to be top class if we are to compete on the world stage,” said Michael Snyder, the City of London’s policy chairman.


Refurbished St Pancras ushers in new era of train travel
London’s St Pancras International Station was opened by Her Majesty the Queen on 14 November, following a $1.6 billion refurbishment project. The station takes over from Waterloo as the terminus for high-speed Eurostar trains to and from Paris, Brussels and other major European cities via the Channel Tunnel. The opening marked the final stage of work on the second section of the UK’s first dedicated high-speed rail line, formerly known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and now rebranded High Speed One.

The line stretches 110km from London to the Channel Tunnel. The first section, from the tunnel to Ebbsfleet in Kent, opened in September 2003 and reduced journey times between London and Paris and Brussels by 20 minutes. The new 38km section, from Ebbsfleet in Kent to St Pancras, will cut a further 20 minutes from journeys between the capital cities. Trains have achieved record-breaking speeds on test runs – for example, 1 hour 43 minutes between Brussels Midi station and St Pancras, at speeds reaching nearly 200 mph (320kph), faster than any other train in the UK.

Eurostar has begun offering through fares from 68 UK towns and cities to Paris and other European destinations, after agreeing deals with a number of UK train operators. Fares are available to Paris, Brussels, Lille and stations across France and Belgium, with fastest journey times including Sheffield to Paris in five hours 25 minutes, Manchester to Brussels in five hours 20 minutes, Birmingham to Paris in four hours 50 minutes and Cambridge to Paris in four hours. Eurostar said that journey times would match or beat flights and that fares would be available up to 90 days in advance.

St Pancras is predicted to become one of the world’s busiest stations, with 60 million people using it annually. LCR also hopes it will become a destination in its own right, providing Londoners with a trendy place to meet. The concourse features 60 boutique stores, a farmers’ market, restaurants, gastropubs and Europe’s longest champagne bar. “By reviving some of the romance and glamour of stations and rail travel, we have the opportunity to breathe new life into this spectacular landmark building,” said Mike Luddy, LCR project director.

Another iconic Victorian building at St Pancras, the former Midland Grand Hotel designed by Gilbert Scott, is being restored to create a five-star Renaissance Marriot hotel and 67 luxury private apartments. A huge project is also under way to regenerate the entire area around St Pancras and neighbouring King’s Cross. A 65-acre site to the north is to be transformed into a business, residential and cultural district, while to the east a $300 million project will create homes, offices, shops and restaurants.

As part of the High Speed One project, a new station has opened at Ebbsfleet in Kent. Commuter trains will take just 17 minutes from Ebbsfleet International into London Kings Cross from 2009, and services also connect with Paris, Brussels and Lille on the European mainland. The station will act as a catalyst for regeneration in the area, according to the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), and will create a major new commercial centre in Kent Thameside, between Gravesend and Dartford. Some 300 hectares of brownfield land offer opportunities to create new mixed-use communities, employment, leisure and cultural facilities, said the RDA.

Another new international station will open in 2009 at Stratford in east London, eight minutes from the main terminus. This will provide transport links for the 2012 London Olympics, and it too will generate a number of commercial developments in the surrounding area.


Boost for rail freight as regional airports keep on growing
Eurotunnel, the Anglo-French operator of the Channel Tunnel, is halving its charges for rail freight in a bid to win business from ferry operators, as it attempts to turn its fortunes around and return to profit. The average charge for a full train-load of freight will be cut from the current $12,000 to $6,000 from the beginning of 2008.

Eurotunnel has seen its freight business fall steadily over the past decade, from 3 million tonnes in 1997 to just over 1 million this year. It blames the decline on its lack of competitiveness in relation to the ferry companies, caused in part by its increased security costs. The company said that its new reduced prices had “considerable potential” to win back business. In the six months to the end of June, Eurotunnel cut its net losses to $44 million and it has also managed to halve its outstanding debt.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced funding grants of more than $264 million to support rail freight infrastructure on four separate projects. It has awarded $160 million to enhance gauge and capacity on the Peterborough-Nuneaton route in the East of England. The improvements will enable the route to carry 9ft 6in high-cube containers, which otherwise need specialist rail wagons or have to be carried by road. The scheme will improve access to the port of Felixstowe and will provide an alternative route to the West Coast Main Line, bypassing London.

Similar work will be carried out on the Southampton-Nuneaton corridor, which links the port of Southampton with Birmingham, the North West and Scotland. A grant of $86 million will enable work to be carried out on three sections of the line. In addition, $16 million of funding will help to increase capacity between the Humber Ports and the East Coast Main Line, and another $3.4 million will improve access between the West Coast Main Line and Liverpool Docks. According to the DfT, the improved rail links will remove around 300,000 lorry journeys from the roads every year. Network Rail will start construction in early 2008, and will complete the schemes by 2011.

The UK’s regional airports are growing much faster than airports in London and are offering a growing choice of long- and short-haul destinations, according to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). In 2006 regional airports accounted for 42 per cent of air passengers travelling to and from the UK, with the biggest growth in international scheduled services. Eight regional airports now offer services to 12 or more international destinations, while back in 1990 only two – Manchester and Birmingham – offered international flights. The country’s newest airport, Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield in South Yorkshire, has just begun offering flights to New York.

Emirates Airlines of Dubai and Newark-based Continental of the US are the leading long-haul airlines at UK regional airports in terms of passenger numbers. Emirates operates to four regional airports, including recent addition Newcastle, while Continental flies to six, having added Bristol and Belfast to its schedules. There are daily services from 19 UK regional airports to Amsterdam Schiphol (Netherlands) and 13 to Paris Charles de Gaulle airports. According to the CAA, regional airports have adopted a more commercial approach in recent years. Virtually all of the bigger ones are now partially or wholly privately owned, except for Manchester Airports Group, which is owned by local authorities.
 

Leading companies increase investment in R&D
Leading UK companies boosted their spending on research and development by 9 per cent in 2006, according to the annual R&D Scoreboard from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. In the course of the year, the 850 largest companies, including subsidiaries of foreign groups, spent almost $43.6m on R&D.

Royal Dutch Shell, for example, increased its spending by $304 million, a rise of 51 per cent, while Rolls-Royce spent $118 million, up 17 per cent. Airbus increased its R&D spend by $210 million, up 30 per cent. The biggest increase in expenditure was at BT, which spent an extra $794 million to take its total to $2.2 billion, a rise of 54 per cent. The telecom group’s R&D budget now represents 5 per cent of its sales revenue, up from 2 per cent in 2003, as it has rapidly expanded its network and services.

The 75 largest R&D investors based in the UK increased their spending by almost 12 per cent, faster than competitors elsewhere in the world. In the vanguard was the pharmaceuticals sector, led by companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, which collectively invested more than $14.8 billion. The aerospace and defence sector was the next biggest spender on R&D, followed by software and computer services, fixed-line telecommunications and automobiles and parts.

Worldwide, GlaxoSmithKline was the seventh largest investor worldwide, in a separate survey of the top 1,250 global companies by R&D compiled by the Financial Times. The UK-based company invested nearly $7 billion worldwide in 2006, a 10 per cent increase on the previous year and representing 14.9 per cent of its sales revenue. The top six investors worldwide were Pfizer, Ford, Johnson Johnson, Microsoft, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota, and the top ten was completed by Siemens, General Motors and Samsung Electronics. Four other UK-based companies featured in the top 100: AstraZeneca (27th), BAE Systems (48th), BT (52nd) and Unilever (83rd).

A unit of AstraZeneca, Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT), has changed its name to MedImmune. The new business unit will unite resources from CAT, the pre-existing MedImmune and other biologics activities within the AstraZeneca Group to create one of the world’s leading vertically integrated biotechnology businesses. It had more than $1.3 billion in revenues in 2006, a pipeline of approximately 100 research projects and more than a dozen clinical product candidates, and more than 3,000 employees worldwide.

“The new MedImmune is now the operationally independent and strategically aligned biologics business unit of AstraZeneca,” said David M. Mott, MedImmune president and CEO. “Bringing together the biologics expertise of CAT, MedImmune and AstraZeneca allows us to preserve MedImmune’s traditional biotech agility and entrepreneurial spirit while encouraging strategic collaboration and cross-fertilisation of ideas under AstraZeneca’s world-class research umbrella.”

UK and US dominate world university rankings
The UK now has four universities in the world’s top ten, with University College London (UCL) climbing 16 places to claim a place among the elite for the first time, according to the fourth edition of The Times Higher-QS World University Rankings by the Times Higher Education Supplement. UCL ranked ninth in 2007, up from 25th in 2006. The universities of Cambridge and Oxford retained their second and third place rankings from last year, with Imperial College London completing the British quartet at fifth. American institutions filled out the rest of the top ten, with Harvard retaining its top spot overall and Yale in fourth, followed by Princeton, Caltech, Chicago and MIT.

Other UK institutions in the top 50 were University of Edinburgh (23rd), King’s College London (24th), Manchester (30th) and Bristol (37th). The US had 43 universities in the top 100, compared with 37 in 2006, while Asia’s presence grew from 12 to 13. The number of European universities declined to 35 from 41 in 2006. Thirty-seven British institutions featured in the top 200, where Europe outscored the US, with 86 universities to 57. Twenty-seven universities from 14 different countries entered the top 200 for the first time.

Malcolm Grant, president and provost of UCL, said: “I am privileged to work with a superb community of academics, and our position in these rankings is largely due to their excellence in research and teaching, and commitment to their students. I note also our enduring popularity with students the world over, another source of satisfaction as we work hard to create an environment at UCL that is both challenging and welcoming.”

The president of the vice-chancellors’ group Universities UK, Rick Trainor, commented: “As this table shows, the world standing of UK higher education is at the very top. This is due to the high quality of our research and teaching. Our competitors are increasingly marketing themselves more aggressively, so it is vital that the UK remains among the foremost destinations for international students and staff.”

The rankings were based on a larger database of citations this year than before, but still used a comparatively small number of criteria to gather data. These included research excellence, teaching quality, graduate employability and attractiveness to students. The top 200 universities were spread across 28 countries, but the leading institutions were largely located in the English-speaking world. The US and the UK are home to the top universities on a wide range of measures, reflecting their success and the esteem in which they are held worldwide.

Canada, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong were the only other countries to appear in the top 20, while the top Continental European institution, the Ecole Normale Supérieure of France was, in 26th place. Germany had 11 institutions in the top 200, while Spain and Italy could muster only three between them. Four were in the developing world, in Brazil (two), Mexico and South Africa.

The domination of the US and the UK suggests a number of common ingredients in academic success, according to the rankings’ compilers. These include the English language and a national economy that rewards new knowledge, for instance with patents. Although dependent on state funding, the best universities are independent of governments. They also generate new technology and ideas across a wide range of subject areas and are closely integrated into their national economies and societies.

Success in generating new knowledge and producing highly employable graduates has made universities rich from alumni donations, research grants and spin-off companies, especially in the US. Harvard, top again this year for the fourth year, is the world’s richest university and has a research budget bigger than that of many nations.

Synchrotron and Science City foster innovative research
The Diamond Light Source synchrotron, a $520 million research centre in Oxfordshire, South East England, has been officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. The facility, the largest science centre to be built in the UK for 40 years, is a joint venture funded by the government via the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the Wellcome Trust.

Diamond Light Source, Oxfordshire

The Diamond site houses a synchrotron machine that can produce X-ray, infrared and ultra-violet beams of exceptionally bright light, which scientists can use to research the basic structure of matter and materials. Synchrotron light has become a key tool in many research areas, including physics and chemistry, and is becoming increasingly important in areas such as medicine, environmental studies, genomics and archaeology. The facility covers an area of 45,000 sq m and took an estimated 2 million man-hours to complete.

Professor Keith Mason, CEO of the STFC, said: “Many of the everyday commodities we take for granted, from revolutionary drugs and surgical tools, to food and electronics, have been developed or improved using synchrotron light. Diamond represents the next generation of light sources in the UK.”

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also praised the new facility. He said: “The Diamond Light Source is a superb example of the best of British science, a facility that is one of the best in the world. It will be used by our outstanding academic sector, and also by British industry to develop technologies in many of our key high-tech industries.”

The universities of Durham and Newcastle have linked up with RDA One NorthEast to form a Regional Science Partnership designed to benefit North East England as a whole. The two universities already have a number of partnerships where they have complementary expertise in areas such as stem cells (the North East Stem Cell Institute) and energy research. The idea behind the new collaboration is to attract more academic researchers and private sector partners and investors to the region.

“Science is one of the key areas of development in the region over the next ten years, and this new partnership will act as a platform to us ensuring the effective exploitation and commercialisation of intellectual capital for the benefit of the region,” said Alan Clarke, chief executive of One NorthEast. “It will work alongside the Newcastle Science City Partnership, with Durham plugging in to this focus on helping achieve the economic, social and physical regeneration of the city.”

The Newcastle Science City project includes a number of initiatives, including development of the scientific research base at Newcastle University, the development of key science-linked sites within the city and provision of specialist business support services for science and technology companies in the city.



Planning shake-up promises to help boost energy sector expansion
A new report published by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), in conjunction with the energy regulator Ofgem and National Grid, looks at medium-term prospects for the energy market in the UK. The Energy Markets Outlook report provides market information on security of supply over the next 15 years and looks at emerging risks that could affect it.

Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said: “We have one of the strongest and most diverse energy markets in the world, which has seen many billions of investment. This includes proposals on the table for more than 14 gigawatts of new electricity generation capacity and a quadrupling of our gas import capacity over the last few years. Underpinning this is the need to move as quickly as reasonably possible towards a low-carbon economy. … Whatever the exact composition of the future energy mix is, it must clearly involve a far greater role for renewable energy.”

The report highlights significant medium-term opportunities for the building of new electricity generation capacity in response to expected demand and plant closures. It agrees with the recent Energy White Paper that around 20-25 GW of new generation will be required by 2020; companies have already announced over 14 GW of new capacity. It also says that the delivery of new gas capacity and planned new infrastructure should more than compensate for a reduction in domestic production in the medium term, depending on market price. The future use of other fuels, such as coal, oil and nuclear is unlikely to be limited by availability resources, and there may be scope for increasing domestic coal production, it concludes.

Along with the Energy Market Outlook report, BERR has launched a new online resource, containing additional detail on security of supply, including background analysis and links to other sources of information.

The government has also announced “radical reforms” to planning regulations which, it says, will save $600 million every year and cut delays to major infrastructure projects such as nuclear power stations. The Planning Reform Bill, published as part of the Queen’s Speech, will overhaul the UK’s infrastructure planning procedures and could save up to $10 billion by 2030.

According to local government minister John Healey, currently planning applications for large infrastructure projects can take two years or more, but the new system will bring the average down to less than a year. A commission of planners, lawyers and other experts will be formed to make key planning decisions. Consultation with local communities is promised at every stage of the process, and there will be a greater onus on private sector developers to consult with stakeholders such as local councils and agencies such as English Heritage and the Environment Agency. The bill will also give local councils responsibility for decision-making on smaller projects.



British public shows healthy respect for entrepreneurs
Most people in Britain consider that the UK offers a favourable environment for business start-ups, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the Financial Times. Most respondents also believe that entrepreneurs should keep a substantial part of the wealth they generate. Measured enthusiasm in the UK contrasted with a pessimistic outlook among Italians and strong optimism among Americans, according to the survey, which was held to gauge reactions to a government-sponsored national festival to promote enterprise.

Of respondents who expressed an opinion, 57 per cent (31 per cent of the overall sample), saw the UK as a good place to set up a new company, despite growing red tape. Forty per cent (18 per cent of the total) said that the start-up environment in the UK was just as good as in the US, which was widely seen as an international gold standard.

Bureaucracy and red tape were considered a problem by 86 per cent of respondents, a high total compared with other European countries, even though regulation in the UK is relatively light. Access to finance, however, was considered to be good. Almost 90 per cent of Britons and Americans who expressed an opinion agreed that entrepreneurs who take risks to create wealth should be allowed to keep a substantial part of it. This proportion was lower in mainland Europe and lowest of all in Spain, where just 57 per cent of respondents held that view. France came out in a middling position for attitudes to enterprise, despite the recent structural economic reforms promised by President Sarkozy.

Scotland has more companies backed by venture capital than any other part of the UK, relative to population size, and outperforms areas traditionally seen as innovation hubs, such as London, Oxford and Cambridge, according to a report by entrepreneurship researchers Library House. The trend is partly due to public sector-backed funds and other grant-awarding bodies in Scotland supporting young companies, said the report, which pointed out that public sector support in Scotland contributes to about 60 per cent of deals involving venture-backed companies. In the East of England (which includes Cambridge) the public sector participates in just over 30 per cent of deals involving venture-backed companies, and in London the figure is 24 per cent.

Public sector support for early stage companies is also high in North East England, Northern Ireland and Wales, according to the study. In London and the South East, however, private sector venture capital providers are much more active. English companies attract almost 30 per cent more private sector institutional capital than their Scottish counterparts, per head of population.

Dozens of innovative companies in Scotland have received backing from the government-funded development body Scottish Enterprise. Among them are Edinburgh-based Touch Bionics, which received $993,000 in several rounds of funding and claims to have developed the world’s first commercially available bionic hand, and Mobiqa, a company which supplies ticket barcodes to mobile phones and whose patented technology is available in more than 30 countries. Scottish Enterprise has also helped to develop a cluster of companies in the computer and console video games sector. Around 20 companies in the sector employ 600 people in Scotland, half of them in the Dundee and Tayside area.

Flourishing creative sector sets standards for world to follow
Pinewood Studios is planning a $400 redevelopment of its famous facilities at Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire, to the west of London. The plan calls for the construction of a number of sets, including a Venetian canal, a Roman amphitheatre and street settings for London and central New York, on 100 acres of greenbelt land adjacent to the existing studios. It also involves building permanent backdrops for a British suburb, a replica medieval castle, a Los Angeles high school campus, a Chicago suburb and Lake Como in Italy.

The proposal would also create a ‘live-work’ community, with a residential development of over 2,000 homes integrated with the film locations which, it is anticipated, will create a sustainable community of studio employees. In addition, it will provide vocational training facilities for film and TV students.

Pinewood hopes that the scheme will help inspire a resurgence in the British film industry, and tempt film-makers back from Eastern Europe, where they have been lured in recent years by lower costs. “Pinewood has been home to film and television for the last 70 years and this development will help secure growth for the creative industries for the next 70 years and beyond,” said Ivan Dunleavy, chief executive of Pinewood Shepperton.

Pinewood already has 20 film stages, including an underwater stage and the largest stage in Europe. The studios became famous in the 1950s and 1960s as the location of the James Bond and Carry On films, and more recent films shot there include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Casino Royale, 28 Weeks Later and The Bourne Identity, as well as TV shows such as The Weakest Link.

Artist-designer David Gentleman has won the Prince Philip Designers Prize 2007, emerging from a strong field that also included top designers such as Ron Arad, David Chipperfield and Jonathan Ive, designer of the iPod. He was presented with the award, which recognises outstanding lifetime achievement in design, by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh at The Sage Gateshead in North East England, in a ceremony coinciding with the Dott 07 (Designs of the time 07) Festival. Gentleman’s career has spanned some 50 years, in which time he has combined painting, drawing and lithography in a succession of classic designs.

His best-known works include Penguin book covers, best-selling travel books, posters for environmental and anti-war campaigns and brand identities for some of the UK’s leading institutions. He is also the UK’s most prolific stamp designer, having created over 100 stamps since 1963. The Prince Philip Designers Prize is the UK’s longest running annual design award, dating back to the early days of the Design Council in the 1950s. Former winners include the architect Lord Foster of Thamesbank (2004), Habitat founder Sir Terence Conran (2003), Pentagram founder Kenneth Grange (2000) and inventor James Dyson (1997).

Liverpool hosted the 15th annual MTV Europe Music Awards in November – the third time that the UK has staged the event, following London in 1996 and Edinburgh in 2003. The Awards were broadcast to a potential worldwide audience of 1.5 billion people in 100 countries, including a live broadcast across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In addition to its 56 TV channels globally, MTV has 47 websites, 19 broadband services and 17 mobile TV channels and mobile video-on-demand services, including distribution to most of the world’s video-enabled mobile handsets.

The venue for the evening was the Echo Arena Liverpool, a 10,600-seat venue that will open to the public in January 2008, as Liverpool embarks on its year as European Capital of Culture. This concert and event facility, located on the city’s King’s Waterfront, is set to be one of the most environmentally-friendly venues of its kind in Europe. The $292 million project includes a convention centre with a 1,350-seat auditorium, 18 break-out rooms and 7,000 sq m of exhibition space.

Regional news
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) saw revenues increase by 24 per cent for the six months to 30 September 2007. This equated to total revenue streams of $406 million, with operating profit up by 41 per cent to $229.4 million. A key point in the period was the agreed merger between LSE and Borsa Italiana, which took place in October, with the Milan exchange valued at $2.6 billion. Other half-year highlights included the LSE returning almost $188 million to shareholders through a share buyback programme and further returns of $1 billion. “This result reflects very strong performances in each division, particularly in Broker Services with the continued growth of trading on our SETS electronic order book, following the launch of our new TradElect trading platform in June. … We are well placed to continue to compete successfully and meet the evolving needs of increasingly international market users,” said Clara Furse, the LSE’s chief executive.

China Netcom, China’s second biggest fixed-line telecoms provider, has set up a European HQ in London, as it works to develop a new communications network between Europe and Asia. Europe is the world’s largest regional telecoms market, and China’s biggest telecoms business, China Telecom, established a UK presence a year ago. UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) has been working with China Netcom for several years, offering advice and support on accessing the European market. London’s financial services industry and strong ICT sector were among the factors that decided the firm to set up in the UK rather than elsewhere in Europe. It will provide communications services to the growing number of Chinese firms coming to the UK to access international growth and will provide a “secure, stable and smooth communication service guarantee for Chinese enterprises stepping into the global market,” said Jidong Zhao, China Netcom’s senior vice president.

Ford’s Ford’s technical centre, Dunton, Eastern England, celebrates its 40th birthday

Ford’s technical centre in Dunton in Essex, Eastern England, has celebrated its 40th birthday. Ford Dunton, with a workforce of 3,000, is the UK’s largest automotive research centre and develops engines, transmissions and commercial vehicles. Opened on 12 October 1967 by then Prime Minister Harold Wilson, the centre brought together engineers from 10 different R&D sites around Essex, the Midlands and Southampton. Over the years it has been involved with every vehicle produced by Ford in Europe, including the Anglia, Escort, Fiesta and Mondeo car models and the Transit van. A low-carbon ‘eco’ version of the 1.6-litre Ford Focus will be available in spring 2008, followed shortly afterwards by lower-emission Fiesta and Mondeo models. Construction has begun on a second Innovation Centre at Liverpool Science Park (LSP) in North West England, the same day that the first phase of the project was officially declared open.

The $16 million second phase will create 40,000 sq ft of space, 10,000 sq ft of which will consist of dedicated laboratory space. The new Innovation Centre II will enable existing businesses housed at LSP to expand, as well as providing new space for start-up companies in science, technology and the creative industries. Since it opened in 2006, the existing LSP Innovation Centre has grown rapidly and has attracted more than 30 young companies to the park. “Working closely with our partners in the city council, John Moores University and Liverpool University, our second phase of development means that we are on track to create a world-class innovation hub in Liverpool’s city centre,” said Dr Sarah Tasker, chief executive of LSP.

A major regeneration project is moving ahead at Widnes Waterfront in Lancashire, North West England, after developers secured over $2 million of public funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA). The $10.6 million scheme will regenerate two sites in the area. The first is adjacent to the newly developed Heron Business Park and will be known as Forward Business Park. It will feature 11 double-height, single-storey, high-tech light industrial units. The second is Forward Point, located at one of the key access points to Widnes Waterfront, where planning approval has been granted for three flexible office buildings. The buildings will be released for sale or lease and are expected to be complete in October 2008. They form part of the Waterfront Economic Development Zone Masterplan, which aims to bring over 80 hectares of derelict land back into productive use. The wider Economic Development Zone (EDZ) will see the transformation of more than 200 acres of brownfield land, including former chemical plant sites and industrial land.

Renovo Group plc, one of Manchester University’s most successful spin-out companies, is further expanding its operation in the city, with assistance from The University of Manchester Incubator Company (UMIC) and the NWDA. The company, a world leader in scar prevention and reduction, is to take a further 25,000 sq ft at UMIC’s Core Technology Facility (CTF), after outgrowing its current facilities at UMIC’s Manchester Incubator. The company will also retain 4,100 sq ft of its current 8,500 sq ft within the Incubator building. Renovo now has 170 employees and has experienced rapid growth since forming in 2000, thanks to major contract wins, including a deal worth more than £400 million with drug-making giant Shire. The CTF is a four-storey facility that provides specialist accommodation for companies that are commercialising biotechnology. Renovo’s space is currently being refurbished to include fume cupboards and tissue culture cabinets and will be occupied by the New Year. Robin Cridland, financial director at Renovo, said: “Renovo is now a fully-fledged biotechnology company with a main market listing on the London Stock Exchange, so we are simply not an incubator company anymore.”

Yorkshire has seen what is being hailed as its “biggest ever buyout” with the purchase of Sheffield-based engineering business Firth Rixson by US-based private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, in a deal thought to be worth $1.9 billion. Oak Hill made the acquisition from another private equity firm, the Carlyle Group, which in just five years of ownership increased the company’s annual turnover to around $1 billion. David Mortimer, the chief executive of Firth Rixson, said: “Oak Hill has demonstrated commitment to the aerospace industry and genuine enthusiasm for Firth Rixson and our business. We are delighted to be partnering with them as we enter this exciting next stage of our development.”

A $100 million scheme to build one of the world’s ‘greenest’ business and logistics parks has been announced at the annual conference of RDA Advantage West Midlands. The Blue Planet Chatterley Valley project in North Staffordshire will be developed on 31 acres of former colliery land at Lowlands Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme. It will be a ‘carbon positive’ development with its own biofuel micro power station, using rapeseed oil, which will produce sufficient power and heat for the on-site buildings and a surplus to power up to 650 homes locally. It will also feature thermally efficient buildings with insulation 25 per cent better than current building regulations; maximum use of natural light, underfloor heating and a solar panel wall; the latest solar cell technology; and kinetic plates that capture energy whenever a vehicle enters the site. Plot A will provide three units offering flexible accommodation from 18,000 sq ft up to 40,000 sq ft and a total development area of 116,000 sq ft. Plot B will provide a larger single building with ancillary office accommodation totalling 385,000 sq ft of warehousing. Developer Gazeley UK will use the scheme as a blueprint to roll out in future commercial property developments across the world, including in China, India and Mexico.

Glasgow has been chosen to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Stuart Patrick, operations director at Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, said: “This is wonderful news for Glasgow and Scotland. Securing such a prestigious international event is not only a reflection of the huge amount of effort put in by everyone associated with the bid, but also a massive endorsement of the work that has been going on in Glasgow for many years to establish it as a major European city. This accolade firmly places Glasgow in that category and I know it will host a games that every citizen can be proud of. There is still much to be done in the next seven years but we at Scottish Enterprise look forward to playing our part in preparing the city for what will be the best Commonwealth Games yet.”

The University of Dundee has been awarded more than $12 million in grants from the Wellcome Trust to establish a new research centre in the College of Life Sciences and add new infrastructure for its Drug Discovery Unit. The bulk of the funding will be used to establish the Wellcome Trust Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression at the University. The award covers a five-year period, and includes funding for 10 posts and for the purchase of new equipment. A further $2.4 million will support work in the Division of Biological Chemistry and the Drug Discovery Unit, also within the College of Life Sciences. The grant will support key elements of infrastructure, including high-performance computing, proteomics and crystallography.

The Welsh Assembly Government has announced a $60 million investment in a ‘FibreSpeed’ project that will provide a regional fibre-optic ‘trunk’ network in North Wales and will link up to 14 strategic business parks throughout the region with advanced, high-speed broadband services at greatly reduced prices. The investment is the first phase in a long-term programme to transform high bandwidth availability and pricing across Wales and is the first government-supported network of its kind to be delivered anywhere in the UK. Financing will come from European Structural Funds and from GEO, part of the Hutchison Whampoa Group, the supplier chosen to build and operate the network. The Assembly Government estimates that the presence of the new network will add up to $58 million a year to the Welsh economy by boosting the productivity of existing companies and attracting new inward investment.

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