February 2008

NEWS

Brown aims to strengthen links with China
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown travelled to China in mid-January, with a strong message that the UK wanted to strengthen ties with the fastest-growing economy in the world. Mr Brown told Chinese leaders that he wanted Britain to be the top choice for Chinese trade and investment. “Britain will welcome substantial new investment from China in our country in the years to come. We want Britain to be the number one destination of choice for Chinese business as it invests in the rest of the world,” he said at a news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Mr Brown and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed to expand trade between the two countries to a value of $60 billion by 2010, compared with $40 billion in 2007. During their meeting, agreements were signed on a number of initiatives, including cooperation on education, climate change and sustainable cities, and several involving oil giant BP and the development of clean energy. Britain has been the biggest EU investor in China over the past few years, but to date it has been less successful than European rivals in exporting to China.

“I believe by 2010 we will see 100 new Chinese companies investing in the UK, we will see 100 partnerships between our universities and Chinese universities and we will double the number of firms listed on the London Stock Exchange and thousands of jobs will be created,” said Mr Brown. “We are now able to sell to China not just financial and business services and environmental technologies, but also a whole range of British brands that are now becoming very popular among the rising number of Chinese consumers.” He added that the UK welcomed investment from Beijing’s huge sovereign wealth fund.

One of the highest-profile Chinese investments in the UK has seen a change of ownership. Nanjing Automobile, which owns the UK-based MG car brand, agreed in December to merge with Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation (SAIC), China’s largest car-maker, in a move intended to create an internationally competitive Chinese car company. Under the deal, SAIC’s Shanghai-listed unit SAIC Motor paid Rmb2.1bn ($286 million) for the core vehicle assembly and parts operations of its smaller rival, including MG, which is based in Birmingham in the West Midlands. Nanjing Auto’s parent company, the Yuejin Group, has in return acquired a stake of just under 5 per cent in SAIC Motor.

SAIC runs major joint ventures in Shanghai with Volkswagen of Germany and General Motors of the US, as well as producing its own vehicles. It bought part of Rover when the British company went bankrupt, and it and Nanjing Auto currently sell almost identical versions of the Rover 75 model under rival MG and Roewe brands. The company said that the takeover deal would help to consolidate the motor industry in China and would give SAIC Motor the scale to compete internationally. It would also allow it to cut costs by combining formerly separate procurement, sales and production operations.

SAIC Motor said it would combine all of Nanjing Auto’s units with its own, but would continue to make full use of both brands and of the smaller company’s MG operations in the UK. “The British business will become a new platform for SAIC’s overseas operations. From now on it will be a window for SAIC in Europe,” said Chen Hong, president of SAIC Motor.

Rolls-Royce to double production as it eyes export markets
Elsewhere in the UK car industry, Rolls-Royce reported sales growth of 25 per cent in 2007, and is planning to double its production levels over the next three years from the current 1,000 vehicles a year. It will also employ several hundred more staff to support a second production line at its recently expanded factory in Goodwood, West Sussex, in South East England. Sales have been boosted by strong demand for the Phantom Drophead Coupe, which was launched in 2007. In 2009 Rolls-Royce is planning to launch a new ‘baby Rolls’ in a bid to match the revived Bentley brand at the high end of the automotive market. The company is performing well in markets worldwide, including China. Vehicle sales there are expected soon to overtake sales in the UK, making China Rolls-Royce’s second-biggest market after the US.

The XF has already won a number of other awards, including ‘Car of the Year’ from the Sun newspaper, ‘Limo of the Year’ from Top Gear magazine, ‘Interior of the Year’ from CAR magazine and the Design Award from Autocar magazine. The XF, which made its public debut at the Frankfurt International Motor Show in September, is available to order now, with the first customer deliveries due to begin in March. Prices start from $67,800 for the 2.7-litre diesel model and go up to $109,800 for the 4.2 litre Supercharged SV8 version. The Jaguar marque is owned by Ford Motors of the US but, along with Land Rover, is currently up for sale. Tata Motors of India remains the most likely purchaser, though several other manufacturers have also expressed interested in acquiring the brand.

LSE claims a clear lead over New York rivals

The London Stock Exchange claimed victory over its New York rivals as the leading exchange worldwide for international flotations in 2007. The LSE said it had attracted 86 IPOs from 22 countries in the year to December 14, raising some $29 billion. This was more than double the $14 billion raised in IPOs by non-US companies on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ combined. London also saw more IPOs from foreign companies, with the two US exchanges each hosting 26 overseas IPOs on their main markets. However, in late 2007, data suggested that New York was set to overtake London for the first time in three years in terms of funds raised from all IPOs. London and New York have been competing increasingly fiercely to win new listings in the past year, particularly from companies in China and India.

In total, the LSE hosted 252 IPOs in 2007, which between them raised $52.2 billion. However, this was lower than in 2006, when it attracted 367 IPOs that raised $58.8 billion. There were fewer IPOs in the main market and in the professional securities market for issues such as global depository receipts (down from 89 to 80) and the amount of money raised from such deals fell slightly, from $40.2 billion to $40 billion. The AIM junior market had 172 IPOs compared with 278 in 2006, and funds raised declined from $18.6 billion to $11.8 billion.

AIM (the Alternative Investment Market) welcomed 250 new companies in 2007, down from 486 the previous year. Twelve of these were Chinese companies with the latest, Natsun Holdings, listing at the end of December. In total, Chinese companies raised about $1.3 billion through IPOs on AIM in 2007. Natsun, based in Shandong province, is one of the top three worsted fabric producers in China, with a production capacity of 10 million metres a year. It achieved a market capitalisation of around $74 million on AIM, and will use the funds for expansion. It is planning a 40 per cent increase in its production of worsted material, which is made from Australian wool and which it supplies to more than 300 customers in 20 countries.

Natsun owns 75 per cent of a joint venture with Berwin Holdings, a UK garments group, to sell suits in the UK, including to well-known retailers such as Moss Bros and Next. Its factories in China currently produce 9,000 suits a week, and have a capacity of 450,000 suits a year. In the spring Natsun plans to add a further 150,000 suits a year to its production capacity, as it targets young professionals in the Chinese financial services sector.




London crowned ‘capital of the world’
London is the capital city of the world, according to a survey by The Independent newspaper that compared major cities worldwide in terms of their economic performance and cultural significance. The in-depth survey looked at population figures, financial markets, tourism trends, transport facilities and data relating to sports and arts events and transport. With one of the world’s leading stock exchanges, a vibrant financial sector, the highest number of Unesco World Heritage Sites of any city, and an international restaurant scene with more ethnic restaurants than any other major city, London scored highly across the board.

The UK capital achieved particularly strong ratings for its underground Tube network (the first in the world), its cultural credentials and for hosting the Olympic Games twice in a century (1908 and 1948). It narrowly beat New York into second place. Paris, in third place, was judged to be the capital of Continental Europe on account of its financial significance and its busy international airports.

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, said the research showed that London’s strength lay in its multicultural make-up. “London is establishing itself as the world’s number one financial centre and greatest city in the world. Londoners are proud of our ‘unity in diversity’ and regard the multiculturalism of our city as one of its greatest strengths. With over 300 languages spoken here, London is literally the most international city in the world,” he said.

Just behind the UK capital, New York outclassed all its competitors in terms of air connections, market capitalisation of its stock exchanges and the highest number of headquarters of global corporations. Madrid was sixth in the rankings, Rome ninth and, perhaps surprisingly, Mexico City tenth. Rankings for the Mexican capital were boosted by three Unesco World Heritage sites, an extensive underground rail network to rival most Western cities and one of the busiest airports in the region. All in all, concluded the survey, it had enough cultural and international significance to give it the highest rank of any city in the developing world.

Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco all made it into the top 15 in the survey. Other cities to perform well included Asian centres such as Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Delhi and Mumbai were comfortably ahead of contenders such as St Petersburg, Melbourne and Tel Aviv. Dublin came in at 30, four places ahead of Edinburgh, while Glasgow was at 42. At the bottom of the table were Addis Ababa and Beirut.


UK leads the way on next-generation satellite technology
UK-based international telecoms company Inmarsat Global has won a major contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to build one of the world’s most advanced telecommunications satellites. The satellite, Alphasat I-XL, will be one of the largest commercial spacecraft of its kind, and will provide telecommunications coverage to Africa, Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia.

Alphasat I-XL is part of an ESA initiative to develop a new spacecraft platform capable of carrying a large communications payload. It will incorporate a new digital signal processor developed by EADS Astrium of the UK, along with a 12-metre aperture antenna reflector. Scheduled for completion in early 2012, it will have a launch mass of 6,000kg, electrical power of 12kW and a design lifetime of 15 years. Inmarsat expects its investment in Alphasat to be in the region of $386 million.

Alphasat I-XL will supplement existing Inmarsat-4 satellites and will provide augmented broadband global area network (BGAN) services over Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As part of the initiative, Inmarsat will use a new allocation of L-Band radio spectrum across these regions. Once in service, the satellite will enable robust communications in emergencies; provide telephone and internet connections in remote locations via Inmarsat BGAN portable data terminals; allow governments to communicate with dispersed populations; and provide essential voice and data links for a wide range of industry sectors.

The $750 million project represents an important collaboration with ESA, which is contributing a significant amount to the acquisition costs of the satellite, its launcher and the development of new processor technology, in partnership with EADS Astrium. The contract is supported by ESA and the British National Space Centre (BNSC), with financial support from the South East England Development Agency, the East of England Development Agency and the London Development Agency. Much of the new satellite will be developed and built by Astrium at its site in Stevenage, Eastern England, supporting hundreds of jobs.

Andrew Sukawaty, chief executive of Inmarsat, said: “Alphasat will enable us to offer improved services through greater capacity, better quality communications and faster download times to existing and future Inmarsat customers. And with the key technology on the satellite developed and manufactured in the UK, it again proves that Britain is at the forefront of the new space race.”
 

Growth in communications sector creates new opportunities
Consumers in the UK enjoy some of the cheapest deals in the world for telephone, pay-TV and broadband communications services, according to a new report by UK telecoms industry regulator Ofcom. The UK also has the highest take-up of digital television of 12 countries surveyed, the report found, and more than half of all UK homes have broadband, slightly more than in the US. The report on the $1,746 billion global telecoms, radio and television sectors compared the UK with 11 other countries, including Canada and the US. It also looked at the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Price appears to be one of the reasons why the UK has the highest take-up of digital television in the 12 countries surveyed, according to the report. At the end of 2006, about 76 per cent of UK households had digital TV. About 40 per cent of households take a ‘bundled’ service, where they pay a monthly fee for a telephone landline, pay-TV and the internet. Costs in the UK can be as low as $50 a month for a typical family household including two parents and two children. This compares with $54.44 in France, $79.54 in Germany and $139.00 in the US. However, US and Japanese consumers spend the most time watching television, averaging 4.5 hours a day, one hour more than in the UK.

Internet advertising revenues are growing rapidly, particularly in the UK. Advertisers in the UK spend $66 per person on internet advertising, twice as much as the internet ad spend per head in France, Germany and Italy combined. Telecoms services revenue per head is also increasing, by 20 per cent from 2001 to 2006, up from $576 to $690, the report found.

Globally, mobile phones are driving growth in the communications sector, and now account for 53 per cent of total telecoms revenues. By the end of 2006, there were 402 million landlines and 634 million mobile connections in the 12 countries surveyed. Brazil, Russia, China and India are driving much of this growth, with 660 million new subscriptions in these four countries since 2001, accounting for 40 per cent of all new mobile subscriptions globally. Mobile phone users in China sent 429 billion text messages in 2006, or 967 texts per user, compared with 621 per user in the UK. New subscriptions in India doubled to 150 million, more than twice the number of UK subscribers.

Meanwhile, mobile phone operators T-Mobile (owned by Deutsche Telekom of Germany) and 3 (Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong) have entered into an infrastructure sharing deal that could create the UK’s largest high-speed wireless network. The two companies will share 13,000 mobile telecoms mast sites across the country, enabling them to roll out a fast wireless network covering 98 per cent of the UK population by the end of 2009. The deal will also save the companies around $4 billion in capital and operating expenditure over the next ten years.

Unlike other mobile operators in the UK (including O2, Vodafone and Orange) T-Mobile and 3 have not invested in fixed-line broadband services, but instead have promoted wireless broadband. They will base their new services on HSDPA technology, also known as 3.5G, which will provide download speeds of up to 7.2 megabits per second, comparable to some fixed-line broadband services.

3’s existing 3G network currently covers 90 per cent of the population, with T-Mobile’s extending to 85 per cent. The infrastructure sharing deal should help to extend broadband services to rural areas, according to the companies. However, some industry observers have pointed out that infrastructure sharing comes with its own problems, including disruption to existing services. A similar deal announced between Vodafone and Orange (part of France Telecom), announced in early 2007, has seen little progress in reality.

A new government think tank has been set up to look at the opportunities and challenges posed by the merging of broadcasting and communications services. The Convergence Think Tank (CTT) will examine the implications of technological development for the media and communications industries, and the consequences for both markets and consumers. It will have a key role in helping to shape government policy in relation to TV, radio, mobile and fixed telecoms and online services.

James Purnell, Culture Secretary at the time of the announcement, said: “The convergence think tank will bring together expertise from the worlds of broadcasting, telecommunications and internet services to consider the opportunities and challenges we might face. The Government has three goals: we want our markets to be open, we want universal access to high-quality content and we want empowered consumers and citizens.”

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) have set up a joint steering group to guide the work of the CTT, and Ofcom will provide input and advice. A number of experts from the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors have been recruited to serve on the group. The CTT will organise a series of seminars to bring together key industry decision-makers, with the first three looking at open markets and the importance of convergence for citizens, consumers and the economy as a whole. The CTT will aim to reach its conclusions early in 2009.

Support for thriving digital media industries
The city of Dundee in Scotland has reinforced its reputation as the European capital of computer games by winning three awards at the gaming industry’s second annual BAFTA awards. Realtime Worlds, designer of Crackdown, won two awards, making it the most successful European studio at the event, while a team of students from the University of Abertay Dundee took the academy’s inaugural ‘Ones To Watch’ award for their game Ragnarawk.

Realtime Worlds was founded in 2002 by David Jones, a graduate of Abertay, who is now a Visiting Professor of Games Design and Technology. The company employs about 170 people in Dundee, plus a further 30 in Korea and Colorado. The company has created some of the world’s best-selling video games, including Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto. Crackdown is its first official title and was launched in partnership with Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 in early 2007. Already, it has sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide.

The digital media sector is thriving in Tayside in Scotland and is expected to create nearly 2,000 new jobs over the next three years, according to Interactive Tayside, a group set up to drive growth in the industry. Scottish Enterprise Tayside is the lead partner in the initiative, which also involves local councils and universities. The industry has nearly doubled in size in the last seven years, according to Interactive Tayside, and now has more than 350 companies with a combined annual turnover of $370 million. There are nearly 3,400 people working full-time for digital media companies in the area, compared with 1,400 in 2000. Companies operating in the sector are generally optimistic about the future, with nearly 60 per cent saying that they expected to increase their turnover by 10-50 per cent in the next 12 months, well above the UK average.

Joyce Matthew, manager of the digital media team at SE Tayside, said: “There are two main reasons for this impressive growth: first, we have a core group of ambitious entrepreneurs committed to the area and bringing on new talent … and second, there is the willingness of a variety of organisations to work together to nurture the development of the industry.”

The port of Leith in Edinburgh is shaping up as another hub for the creative industries. Omnia, an international creative consultancy with operations in London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has recently become the third company to move into a floating business park that is being developed in the basin of the River Leith in the Scottish capital. The company has housed 10 staff in a high-tech floating office on a converted barge, and plans to double that number in the near future.

Barge 1502 is the third vessel to be opened by development company Water of Leith 2000. The first two are occupied by an advertising agency and a branding company. The barge, a former fuel carrier for the Ministry of Defence, travelled as far afield as the Falkland Islands during its working life. It now provides 3,000 sq ft of grade A office space and, like the first two barges, is equipped with drainage, water and electricity. Water of Leith 2000 intends to put three more barges on the inner basin of the Water of Leith later this year. “There is a queue of people wanting them,” said Ron Kitchin, the company’s managing director.

A new business network has been set up in the East of England to provide support for firms in the computer games sector. Games Eden will help to promote and develop the region’s digital games and entertainment sector by enabling businesses to transfer knowledge and collaborate on the latest developments and opportunities in the market. Over 70 software firms have so far joined the network, which will be funded over the next two years by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and a number of other bodies.


Nuclear to play important part in UK’s renewable energy mix
The UK Government has invited energy companies to put forward plans to build and operate new nuclear power stations, as part of its strategy for a low-carbon energy future. The decision was contained in a White Paper published alongside an Energy Bill that set out a range of measures to address the challenges of tackling climate change and securing energy supplies. Energy Secretary John Hutton said: “Giving the go-ahead today that new nuclear power should play a role in providing the UK with clean, secure and affordable energy is in our country’s vital long-term interest. Set against the challenges of climate change and security of supply, the evidence in support of new nuclear power stations is compelling.”

He continued: “With a third of our generating capacity coming offline within the next 20 years and increasing reliance on imported energy, it is clear we need investment in a range of new energy infrastructure. Measures in the Energy Bill will drive a greater deployment of renewables and enable investment in carbon capture and storage and offshore gas infrastructure.”

To encourage investment in the nuclear industry, the Government will take a number of initiatives over the coming months. In February and March it will set out proposed guidelines for the financing of waste and decommissioning by potential developers of new nuclear power stations, and will set up a new independent advisory body, the Nuclear Liabilities Financing Assurance Board (NLFAB). It will strengthen the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and will explore ways of making the regulatory regime more effective, and will make use of the new Planning Bill to ensure that nuclear development projects are treated like other critical infrastructure projects. In March it will issue a call for Justification applications under EU regulations, followed by a consultation on draft Strategic Siting Assessment criteria and a start to the process of selecting reactor designs. It will also work with other EU governments to strengthen the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

As well as encouraging nuclear power, the Energy Bill includes details of a competition for the first commercial-scale demonstration of carbon capture storage (CCS) and strengthening of the Renewables Obligation (RO) to encourage the development of renewable energy sources. More support will be given to technologies such as offshore wind, wave and tidal and micro generators of 50kW or less. The new measures, according to the Government, should treble the amount of electricity generated by renewable sources to around 15 per cent by 2015. In addition, the regulatory framework for offshore gas supply infrastructure will be simplified and strengthened.

Separately, the Government has announced support for the development of electricity generated from geopressure via the Renewables Obligation scheme, which assists companies using ‘green’ energy sources to compete with fossil fuel generators. Geopressure occurs naturally through geological activity, and can be harnessed to generate electricity by using the pressure in the gas network. Still in its infancy, the technology – which does not consume any gas, but works like a water wheel driven by the pressure of its flow – has potential for deployment across the UK. Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said: “Geopressure has the potential to be a low-carbon energy source which will help the UK in meeting its ambitious targets to cut carbon emissions. It is an efficient additional use of the gas we will continue to need as part of our energy mix.”

The UK’s largest ever photovoltaic (PV) solar energy research project will get under way in April at Durham University in North East England. Scientists from Durham will lead research departments from eight UK institutions and nine industry-based partners to investigate the benefits of solar power. The four-year R&D project will see $12.6 million invested in research to determine ways of reducing the thickness – and ultimately the cost – of solar cells. “Our medium- to long-term goal is to make a major contribution to achieving competitive photovoltaic solar energy, which we hope will lead to an uptake in the use of solar power,” said principal investigator Professor Ken Durose, of Durham’s physics department.

Work has begun at the Methil Energy Park in Fife in Scotland to develop one of Europe’s most advanced integrated testing sites for renewable energy and fuel cell energy storage technologies. The $5.4 million energy-efficient development will be a demonstration centre powered by renewable energy and hydrogen fuel cells, and will integrate other renewable technologies such as solar, wind and geothermal heat pumps. The 11,000 sq ft centre will form part of the flagship Energy Park, which is expected to become one of Europe’s leading locations for the development of renewable energy solutions.


Babcock takes stake in Forth Ports as Liverpool expands
Australian infrastructure investor Babcock & Brown has bought a 20.4 per cent stake in Edinburgh-based Forth Ports, the UK’s last remaining independent port operator. The acquisition is the latest in a series of investments worldwide by the Sydney-based group, as it aims to become the world’s first large-scale international operator of bulk ports. In late 2007 Babcock acquired stakes in port operators in Belgium, Germany and the US, and in the UK took over PD Ports in 2005.

Forth Ports operates a number of ports in the Firth of Forth and Dundee in Scotland, and at Tilbury on the Thames. Until now, it has been passed over in the wave of takeovers that has seen Associated British Ports, Mersey Docks & Harbour and P&O acquired by private operators. One reason for this is that much of its value is tied up in land in Edinburgh’s Port of Leith, where no planning permission has yet been given for development.

The Port of Liverpool in North West England, meanwhile, is embarking on its largest expansion programme for 40 years. The port plans to spend $180 million to build a second deep-sea container terminal by 2011, which will be capable of accommodating the latest generation of post-Panamax container ships. This will help to support its core North American market and to attract new trade from China, India and other Asian markets. It will also help it to compete with the UK’s leading container ports, Felixstowe and Southampton, which are already equipped to receive the larger vessels.

Liverpool has a large Chinese community and is twinned with Shanghai. There are also a large number of Indian-owned firms operating in the region. The expansion plan is good news for manufacturers in the region, and is likely to boost jobs in other maritime sectors, such as ship broking and freight forwarding, which support more than 25,000 jobs on Merseyside.

Liverpool is the UK’s sixth-largest port for freight and the fourth-largest for container traffic, and the UK’s main gateway for cargo trade with North America. It has recovered from the dark days of the 1970s and early 1980s, when a series of strikes, combined with deep economic and technological changes, badly damaged its business. As well as buying shipping lines and investing in roll-on, roll-off (ro-ro) capacity to boost its market share, it has worked hard to build customer relationships. In recent years, it has aggressively targeted firms within a 70-mile radius, seeking to convince them of the benefits of using Liverpool rather than spending more to transport goods from the South Coast. Recent successes have included persuading confectionery-maker Cadbury to switch its cocoa imports back to Liverpool after more than ten years.

The Port of Liverpool is British-owned, having been bought in 2005 by Peel Holdings, which also owns the Manchester Ship Canal and Liverpool’s John Lennon airport. It has since sold a minority stake to Germany’s Deutsche Bank. The UK’s other leading ports are owned by overseas companies: Felixstowe by Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong, P&O Ports by Dubai Port World and Associated British Ports by Admiral, an international consortium led by Goldman Sachs.


Business park developments to boost science and industry
The largest new science park development in the UK moved into the final stages of planning in December after winning local authority approval. SPark, at Emerson’s Green in Bristol, South West England is a $600 million scheme that is being undertaken by the South West Regional Development Agency in partnership with specialist developer Quantum Property Partnership. The RDA has invested more than $60 million in the scheme to date, making it its single largest project.

SPark is a ten-year project that will provide dedicated space for science and technology businesses in the region, and is expected to create around 6,000 skilled jobs. It is located on a 53-acre site between the M4 motorway and the Avon ring road. The first buildings on the site will include a 70,000 sq ft Innovation Centre and a grow-on facility that will support young science-based businesses as they evolve. Sustainability and energy efficiency are embedded in the design of the project, and Quantum's long-term aim is to create a zero carbon development.

The two partners are working closely with the University of Bristol, University of Bath and University of the West of England to ensure collaboration between research and industry. All three universities have excellent research departments and SPark will allow science-based industries to benefit from their knowledge and facilities. Quantum spokeswoman Tonianne Dwyer said: “Over the last year we have translated the SPark vision into a viable masterplan that will provide world-class facilities for fledgling businesses and attract the biggest names in research and development to the region.”

Work began in January to create a new innovation park just outside Ipswich in Eastern England. Innovation Martlesham, located on the Adastral Park at Martlesham Heath, is set to become a global centre of excellence for R&D, offering flexible incubation space for high-tech, ICT-related enterprises. The park will have an open campus feel, with a strong higher education research presence that will encourage and stimulate knowledge transfer, according to its developers. Tenants will benefit from the support of a virtual hub network, and will have access to BT’s physical hub at Adastral Park, providing them with a first-class business support network.

In the West Midlands, the final two plots of derelict land at Coventry University Technology Park have been cleared and are ready for redevelopment. The Technology Park has been developed over the past decade on land formerly occupied by Rolls-Royce. It encompasses a TechnoCentre, which houses an Innovation Centre and Conference Centre; an Enterprise Centre, a grow-on unit for expanding companies; and the Design Hub and the Innovative Village. The site is already home to 55 companies active in a range of high-tech sectors such as IT, creative industries and design.

The final two pieces of land have been earmarked for a new Health Design Technology Institute and the ACT-UK centre for advanced construction training. According to Julian Ingleby, acting managing director of Coventry University Enterprises: “The Health Design Technology Institute will be a landmark building bringing together all the elements of the supply chain in assistive technology products and services for health care. The ACT-UK Simulation Centre will be a flagship building housing the UK’s first virtual reality construction site to train up construction managers.”

Initial infrastructure work and site preparation works began in October on a new business park in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria in North West England. Ramsden Business Park will provide 212,700 sq of business accommodation, and represents the first phase of the Waterfront Business Park, part of an ambitious scheme that will create 1,500 jobs over the next ten years and help to diversify the local economy. The business park will cater for a wide range of businesses, providing office, R&D, industrial, storage, warehousing and distribution space. It forms an important part of a $400 million master plan for the town’s waterfront area, which will see the development of business, leisure and residential facilities on redundant former dockland. As well as the Waterfront Business Park, plans include a marina village with 650 homes, a hotel, leisure facilities, restaurants and bars; a 400-berth marina and watersports centre; and a cruise ship terminal providing a sea gateway to the Lake District.

A ten-year project to transform a vacant site in Northern Ireland into an enterprise park has moved a step closer after receiving funding totalling £871,000. The proposed Tullycarnet Enterprise Park in the Old Dundonald Road area of East Belfast covers 2.4 acres, and upon completion in October 2008 will accommodate 25 office and light industrial units. Announcing the funding, Northern Ireland’s Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie said: “The Tullycarnet Enterprise Park will provide a new facility that will foster and encourage social and economic opportunities for the local community. It will help attract inward investment as well as providing employment and training opportunities for local people.”

Glasgow finance sector attracts record levels of investment
Investment in Glasgow, Scotland’s second city, has reached record levels, with increased confidence in the office and business sector. It is estimated that almost $9.4 billion of resources have gone into projects across the city in the past year, an increase of 11 per cent over 2005/06. Other statistics suggest that the value of developments completed totalled over $1 billion in 2006/07, an increase of 81 per cent year-on-year.

There are now around 14,000 people working in the city’s International Financial Services District (IFSD), which is well on target to achieve its aim of providing 20,000 jobs by 2011. US financial giant Morgan Stanley, which has 1,300 staff in Glasgow, has recently announced plans to base 600 more employees there. Direct Line and esure Insurance both have more than 1,000 staff in the area, which is also home to operations run by US firms JP Morgan and First Data, French bank BNP Paribas, ACE Insurance, Barclays Wealth, moneyQuest and Shell.

Another investor in the IFSD is oil giant Shell, which has announced a further expansion of its financial shared service operation there, creating up to 150 accountancy jobs. The group already employs almost 500 staff from 34 different countries in Glasgow, serving Shell interests in 12 countries, where employees speak 23 different languages. Shell announced a review last year of its Scottish base in the face of competition from other centres in Poland, Nicaragua and the Philippines. However, after being awarded a Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant of $2.6 million, it has reinforced its commitment to the city.

Stuart Patrick, operations director at Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, said: “Over the past few months we have helped more than 1,400 new finance jobs locate to the city. Glasgow can now really count itself as a major player in the UK’s finance sector.” His colleague Debbie Mackie, director of growing business at the investment agency, added that companies were now more attracted to Glasgow because there was a designated, internationally recognised financial services district. “All the companies talk of the availability of high-quality staff, an excellent education system, links with the universities and generally a first-class service sector workforce,” she commented.

A new Electronics Design Centre aimed at developing the electronics design industry in Scotland has opened at the University of Glasgow. The $10 million facility is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and has been designed to fill a gap in UK electronics research. The University will be involved in prototype design, while a number of industry partners will take the designs forward. Partners include electronics firm Agilent, National Semiconductor, Fujitsu and the UK Government Communications Centre. The University currently has extensive clean-room facilities, and the capacity to manufacture semiconductor kit, including complete 3-5 group circuits for micro- and millimetre wave applications. By bringing together experts in the design and commercial manufacture of electronics systems, the centre will help to put Scotland at the forefront of breakthroughs in drug development, communications systems and homeland security, according to the University.

Elsewhere in Scotland, Cutting Underwater Technologies (CUT) – part of the Italian Tecnospamec Group – is to open a new 23,000 sq ft office, laboratory and testing facility at Aberdeen Science and Energy Park. CUT is a market leader in the manufacture of sophisticated remote-controlled underwater cutting equipment. Aberdeen is an ideal location for the company as the technology is required to safely remove redundant offshore and subsea structures decommissioned by the oil and gas industries, and companies in the area are at the forefront of the multi-billion-dollar decommissioning industry. “The Aberdeen Science Parks are one of the UK’s most successful technology locations. Our ambitious investment plan will result in the private sector providing 350,000 sq ft of additional floorspace accommodating 1,000 new high-value jobs,” said David Littlejohn, director of global connections at Scottish Enterprise Grampian,


Regional news
The National Football League (NFL) plans to stage another American football game in the UK later this year, following the sport’s successful debut at Wembley Stadium in London last year. The NFL is also in talks to bring gridiron to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and Murrayfield in Edinburgh. The NFL game in October between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants was an 82,000-ticket sell-out and generated more than $39 million for London’s economy, with 10,000 visitors flying in from the US. In all, London earned some $200 million from the staging of international sports events in 2007, with the Tour de France contributing more than half the total. This year, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is planning to send more leading US teams to play at the O2 arena in London, following a contest last year between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Boston Celtics. London Olympics organisers also expect to benefit from Beijing’s hosting of the Olympics this summer. The Olympic torch will be relayed through London in April and a series of cultural events will mark the handover of the Olympic mantle from Beijing to London at the end of the Games.

In another sporting coup, Liverpool and Manchester in North West England are to stage two major European badminton championships in 2009 and 2010. The Echo Arena in Liverpool will stage the European Mixed Team Championships in February 2009, while the Manchester Evening News Arena will host the European Individual Championships in April the following year. This is the first time that the European Championships have been separated into two different elements. The Mixed Team Championships mark the first time that Liverpool has staged a major badminton event, although Manchester has a successful track record in the shape of the 2002 Commonwealth Games. A month before this announcement was made, the Badminton World Federation awarded London the 2011 World Individual Championships, providing real impetus for the sport in the run-up to the London Olympics in 2012.

The East Midlands Development Agency (emda) reported 13 new inward investment projects in April-December 2007, creating or safeguarding 1,230 jobs, according to the chief executive’s December report. New investments included an expansion by French-owned Limagrain Group, which owns the Nickerson and Advanta businesses in Lincolnshire and breeds cereals and other crop species. During the period, the agency hosted a number of visits by potential overseas investors, including a fuel cells delegation from Sweden, while emda officers travelled overseas to Bangalore, India; the World Energy Congress in Rome; and to Germany, Brazil, Malaysia and Singapore. The East Midlands China Business Bureau (EMCBB) led a delegation of 14 East Midlands businesses to Chongqing and Sichuan in China, where memoranda of understanding were signed on developing trade links; establishing an automotive R&D centre in the East Midlands; and co-operating on climate change and renewable energy technologies. A visit to Qatar is planned for February. In addition, emda launched a VIP Fast-track programme for German-speaking markets, and supported a reception for International Chevening Scholars organised by the British Council.

Also in the East Midlands, plans are progressing for an ambitious redevelopment of the Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit. The circuit’s owners, the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC), want to develop the Circuit and its related facilities to secure the long-term future of the Formula One British Grand Prix and to enhance its reputation at the heart of UK motorsport. A Development Brief for the circuit outlines a number of potential land uses, including an advanced technology park, an education campus, hotel and conferencing facilities, and a new pit and paddock complex. It is hoped that the Development Brief will be formally adopted early this year so that planning consents can be sought in the spring. If this timetable is followed, phase one of the development plan should commence immediately after the 2008 Grand Prix this summer.

In Coventry in the West Midlands, three Scandinavian companies have recently moved into new offices, and more are likely to follow. KetTech PLM, Netex Webservices and Peal have all taken units at Riley Court at the University of Warwick Science Park, after visiting the area as part of a delegation organised through the Bridges to Growth programme, which is designed to attract inward investment to the region. A further 40 companies have visited the facility recently, and it is hopeful that several more will follow up by establishing a base there.

The University of Cambridge in Eastern England has launched a new Jawaharlal Nehru Professorship of Indian Business and Enterprise, based at its Judge Business School, one of the leading business schools in Europe. The Professorship will help to forge closer links between the Indian and other international economies and will promote understanding of India’s interests and its place in the world economy. The new appointee will also provide leadership for the creation of a dedicated Cambridge Centre for Indian Business at Judge Business School. Themes to be covered in the first three years include technology innovation, emerging global economies, the relationship between economic development and knowledge economy and entrepreneurship. The Professorship has been set up with a fund of $6.4 million, including a contribution from the Government of India, while the proposed new centre is being supported by a contribution of $1.1 million from the BP Group.

The University of Dundee has again been named one of the world’s most attractive workplaces in an international poll of over 2,000 scientists. The poll, carried out by The Scientist magazine and looking at all countries outside of the US, placed Dundee fourth among the Top 10 international institutions. The survey asked scientists to rate relationships with their peers, a sense of accomplishment in their work and access to research resources. Dundee has performed consistently well in the poll, being named in the top five international institutions in each of the past five years. “It is extremely satisfying to see our international reputation reflected in this poll, which gathers the views of researchers working in major institutions all around the world. We continue to attract people from all over the world to come and work in Dundee, where they join an extremely strong research base,” said Professor Pete Downes, Vice-Principal of the University and Head of the College of Life Sciences.

Northern Ireland Economy Minister Nigel Dodds has officially opened a new $10 million drug delivery research facility in Larne. The Warner Chilcott Centre of Excellence in Novel Oral Dosage Forms – the first facility of this type in Northern Ireland – will undertake research into innovative oral drug delivery technologies for the development of new and improved medicines. The project, which is expected to create 14 new research positions, has received more than $3.5 million in support from Invest Northern Ireland through its Centres of Excellence programme. Lee Cross, senior vice president, technical operations for US-based Warner Chilcott, said “We place great importance on its Larne facility. This new centre will complement our existing R&D activities and will enable us to develop new medicines with a competitive edge.”

Enterprise minister Nigel Dodds and Invest NI chief executive Leslie Morrison with Ciara Pollock,
the most recent graduate to be employed at the new £5 million Warner Chilcott centre of excellence

Invest Northern Ireland has also assisted international software firm SAP AG to embark on an innovative R&D programme with a $1.8 million investment at its Campus-based Engineering Centre (CEC) at the University of Ulster. The company established the centre in February 2006 to carry out leading-edge software research. The follow-on investment will enable it to diversify into the emerging area of system virtualisation. Dr Ben Greene, director of research at the CEC, said: “Our R&D capability is crucial to our future growth and we are pleased with the results achieved by our initial research project in Belfast. The level of skills and knowledge available in Northern Ireland made it a natural choice of location for us to begin substantive research into system virtualisation, which will add to the significant advances we have already made in grid computing.”

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