November 2009

NEWS

Optimism slowly growing despite continued recession
The UK economy unexpectedly contracted by 0.4 per cent between July and September, according to official figures, meaning that the country is still in recession. The news also marked the first time that UK gross domestic product (GDP) had contracted for six consecutive quarters since quarterly figures were first recorded in 1955. Analysts had been expecting quarterly growth of 0.2 per cent for the period. However, it was stressed that the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) were only provisional, and could be revised up or down. An unexpected decline in the services sector – on which the UK economy depends – was the key factor behind the drop, with the distribution, catering and hotels sector performing particularly badly. The economy contracted by 5.2 per cent compared with the same period in 2008, which was marginally better than the record figure of 5.5 per cent in the previous three months. It has now contracted by 5.9 per cent from its peak before the recession began.

Despite these unexpected figures, there are signs of returning business confidence. The services sector grew at its fastest pace for two years in September, and the purchasing managers’ index for activity in service businesses rose to 55.3 from 54.1 (where a level above 50 indicates companies reporting a rise in activity compared with the previous month). The monthly index, compiled by polling company Markit, had shown increasing activity for the previous five months. The ONS statistics notwithstanding, improvement in activity in the sector is expected to be maintained, with business expectations for the next 12 months at a two-and-a-half-year high.

Financial firms may also be recovering, with business volumes growing for the first time in two years, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers and business organisation the CBI. Seven per cent of financial services firms surveyed said that their business increased in the three months to early September and, on balance, 36 per cent were more optimistic about the general business situation than they were in June. Although building societies remained “downbeat”, securities trading rose, driven by a record level of growth in dealings with financial institutions and growing business with overseas customers. “For the first time in the survey’s 20-year history, all respondents are feeling optimistic about their business situation, a reflection of the rebound in equity markets,” said Pars Purewal of PWC.

Another cause for cheer is new figures from the ONS that show British businesses improving in terms of worker productivity, an area in which they have traditionally lagged behind international competition. Estimates for 2008 show that the UK’s productivity level on a GDP per worker basis was above that of Japan and similar to that of Canada and Germany, though still lower than that of Italy, France and the US. On a GDP per hour worked basis, which takes account of the different working patterns across countries, the UK was above Japan and Italy, on a par with Canada and below France, Germany and the US.

The data shows that the UK has experienced faster productivity growth than all other G7 countries since 1991, as measured by GDP per worker. By 2007, UK GDP per worker had grown by 39 per cent since 1991, compared with the G7 average (excluding the UK) of 29 per cent. In terms of GDP per hour worked, UK productivity increased by 49 per cent between 1991 and 2007. This represented the fastest rate of growth of any G7 country over the period, well above the average of 36 per cent. Although the recession has blunted productivity, said the ONS, the UK has experienced a less severe decline than that suffered by several other economies.

UK tops financial development index
According to the World Economic Forum’s second annual Financial Development Report, the world’s largest economies have taken the biggest hit in the continuing recession. Global financial centres still lead in the report’s Index, but the effects of financial instability have pulled down their scores compared with last year. The UK, buoyed by the relative strength of its banking and non-banking financial activities, claimed the Index’s top spot overall from the US, which slipped to third position behind Australia, largely due to poorer financial stability scores and a weakened banking sector.

The financial crisis was acutely felt in most global financial systems and caused most countries’ scores to drop significantly compared to 2008. According to the report’s authors, the size and global nature of these economies may have led to greater exposure to the current financial turmoil, as captured in some of the more recent data. Both the UK and US experienced a sharp drop in their overall scores that significantly decreased their leading margin over other countries. Financial instability weighed heavily on both, a factor that was offset by strength in some measures of financial intermediation.

Australia, in second place, showed considerable strength in the rankings. Canada, the smallest of the G8 countries by GDP, and other smaller economies fared better in this year’s Index, and comprised seven of the top 10 in overall rank. These included Australia (2nd), Singapore (4th), Hong Kong SAR (5th), Canada (6th), Switzerland (7th), the Netherlands (8th) and Denmark (10th). Germany and France both suffered heavy falls in their overall scores that saw them drop out of the top 10.

The Financial Development Report ranks 55 of the world’s leading financial systems and capital markets. The rankings are based on over 120 variables spanning institutional and business environments, financial stability and size and depth of capital markets, among other factors. The report draws on data taken from a variety of publicly available sources, such as the World Bank as well as the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey. Changes to this year’s Index included improved data on retail, financial access such as bank account penetration, microfinance and point-of-sale access. Refinements to measures of financial stability were also made.

“The change in scores does demonstrate the implications of the downturn on our assessment of the long-term development of financial systems,” said Nouriel Roubini of New York University and chairman of RGE Monitor, who was the lead academic on the report. Kevin Steinberg, chief operating officer, World Economic Forum USA, added: “The United Kingdom and US may still show leadership in the rankings, but their significant drops in score show increasing weakness and imply their leadership may be in jeopardy.”


London marks 20 years as ‘best European city for business’
The latest European Cities Monitor 2009, by global real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield, has ranked London as the number one European city in which to locate a business for the 20th consecutive year. Extending its lead on nearest rival Paris, London came first in all three major rating criteria – access to markets, talent supply and connectivity (digital and physical) – and improved its scores in each category. London, Paris and Frankfurt remained the top three European locations (as they have been since the survey started in 1990), comfortably ahead of all other challengers. Barcelona overtook Brussels for fourth spot.

Of the more established business cities, Paris and London remained the most popular destinations for European expansion. London, Paris and Barcelona retained their positions as the best-known cities in Europe. Barcelona continued to lead the way in terms of cities promoting themselves, although the gap was closer between the new second-placed city, London, which rose from fifth in 2008.

Of the top three, the UK capital was also rated as the most improved. It ranked second for the availability of property, with a 33 per cent improvement in its score for property value. It also jumped from fifth to second as the city doing the most to improve itself. London remained the top-rated city in half of the 12 major rankings, including easy access to markets, transport links with other cities and internationally, ease of travelling within the city, availability of qualified staff, quality of telecommunications and languages spoken. Of other UK cities, Birmingham was the biggest mover in this year’s survey, moving up from 21st to 14th. Leeds climbed from 28th to 24th, though both Manchester and Glasgow slid two places compared with last year, to 16th and 29th respectively.

The top four key factors in deciding where to locate remained the same as last year, although their order changed. Easy access to markets or customers replaced available of quality staff as the most important factor. Next most important were telecommunications and transport links. Value-for-money office space was cited by more respondents this year, with 34 per cent considering this the most important factor compared with 26 per cent last year. Leeds retained its position of offering the best value-for-money office space in Europe, and was joined by Birmingham at the top of the ranking. The ECM survey, undertaken by market research firm TNS, is based on interviews with senior managers and board directors in charge of location at 500 top European companies.

The GFCI tracks the underlying competitiveness of financial centres, and is conducted every six months. The latest report, based on a wide survey of leading global financial players, suggested that the rise of Asia was part of a more general return of confidence among respondents, with all but three centres (Dublin, Glasgow and Gibraltar) recording stable or higher than previous ratings. GFCI 5, published in March 2009, saw each of the 62 centres listed experience an overall ratings drop in the face of global economic turmoil. Six months later, the overall ratings have returned to the levels exhibited in last September’s GFCI 4.

London has topped every survey since it began three years ago, and continues to lead in four of five financial sub-industries, although New York is number one in banking. Both London and New York improved their overall scores since the March ranking, with London adding nine points to reach 790 and New York six points to reach 774 out of a possible 1,000. However, Hong Kong added 45 points and Singapore 32, to stand at 729 and 719 points respectively. The rest of the top ten consisted of Shenzhen (695 points), Zurich (676), Tokyo (674), Chicago (661), Geneva (660) and Shanghai (655). The survey also highlighted how international London is. Respondents were asked to rate only centres they were familiar with, and 80 per cent of those not based in London felt comfortable enough to rate it. Just two-thirds of non-New Yorkers opted to rate that city, and Hong Kong was rated by just 60 per cent.

A spokesperson for the City of London Corporation said: “This independent research demonstrates three trends: cautious optimism that the global financial services industry is showing signs of recovery, further movement of the financial business centre of gravity towards fast-developing markets – especially in Asia – and the emergence of a ‘Premier League’ of economically and socially interconnected cities. London is well positioned to take advantage of these changes by utilising the benefits of an internationally recognised language and commercial law framework, as well as an opportune time-zone, to act as a bridge between various centres. Three of the four global leaders are financial centres with legal systems based on English Commercial Law.”

British science research ‘among best in the world’
UK scientific research remains the most productive and efficient among the G8 countries, according to a report commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and published by Evidence Ltd. The International Benchmarking Study of UK Research Performance 2009 (the sixth annual report) showed that the UK continued to rank as second only in the world to the US on leading indicators for clinical, health, biological, environmental and social sciences. It also revealed a rise in the number of UK papers co-authored with researchers in other countries, which tend to be highly cited – international collaborations with the US, Germany and France have an impact 50 per cent higher than the UK research base average. Crucially in the current economic climate, the study revealed that the UK offers some of the best value for money, ranking first among the G8 nations on the number of citations in relation to public research and development spend.

The Government uses the annual benchmark provided by the study to assess the UK’s performance alongside the 25 world-leading research economies, including the G8 nations, India and China, across 40 separate scientific indicators. Key findings from this year’s analysis of papers and citations in 8,000 of the world’s leading scientific journals included the fact that the UK’s share of citations in science journals across the world was 12 per cent, second only to the US. The UK increased its share of the most cited (top 1 per cent) of world papers from 13.4 per cent last year to 14.4 per cent in 2009. Its “citation impact” – the average citation rate of a paper – was second in the G8, ahead of the US but behind Germany. Overall, the UK produced 8 per cent of the world’s scientific papers, third only to the US and China.

The excellence of UK researchers was further highlighted in the 2009 competition for European Research Council starting grants, where UK institutions had the highest success rates, with over 40 of the 237 successful proposals. The next best rate was France with 31. Lord Drayson, Minister for Science and Innovation, said: “Supporting the science community and maintaining our excellent research base is critical to the UK’s future economic growth and prosperity. This is why the government will invest a record level of almost [$9.6] billion in UK science and research by 2011.”


UK-based scientists claim clutch of Nobel Prizes
Underlining the strength of the UK’s scientific research base, several of this year’s Nobel Prizes, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, went to scientists with UK connections. One half of the Nobel Prize for Physics 2009 was awarded to Charles K. Kao, for “groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for optical communication”. Born in 1933 in China, and a British citizen, Kao is affiliated to Standard Telecommunication Laboratories in the UK town of Harlow, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He made his breakthrough in fibre optics while working at Harlow in the 1960s, calculating how to transmit light over long distances via optical glass fibres, a development which has helped create today’s networked societies.

A Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Dr Venki Ramakrishnan won the prestigious honour along with two other scientists for his research into the structure and function of ribosomes. Dr Ramakrishnan, of the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, shared the prize with Thomas A. Steitz of Yale University and Ada E. Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. The three researchers established what the ribosome looks like and how it functions at the atomic level, using a method called X-ray crystallography. Ribosomes produce proteins, which in turn control the chemistry in all living organisms, and are a major target for new antibiotics.

Elizabeth Blackburn, an alumna of Darwin College and a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Cambridge earlier this year, jointly won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for her research on telomerase, an enzyme she helped discover in 1985. Telomerase, which adds DNA to the ends of chromosomes in cells, plays a key role in the development of cancer and has been the focus of much research.

The University of Cambridge claims more Nobel Prize winners than any other institution. There are now 84 affiliates of the University who have won the Nobel Prize since 1904. They cover every category, with 29 Nobel Prizes in physics, 24 in medicine, 19 in chemistry, seven in economics, two in literature and two in peace.
 

The rankings, based on a survey of academics and graduate employers worldwide and compiled by QS Intelligence Unit, showed a fall in the number of North American universities in the top 100, from 42 in 2008 to 36 in 2009. This year there were 39 European universities in the top 100, up from 36, while the number of Asian universities rose from 14 to 16. The University of Tokyo, at 22nd, was the highest-ranked Asian university.

A new classification this year differentiated between generalist universities and specialist institutions. The London School of Economics (LSE) was named the top specialist social science university, while the top specialist engineering university was the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Among other UK institutions, the University of Edinburgh was ranked joint 20th best university in the world overall, King’s College London 23rd, Manchester 26th and Bristol 30th. In all, 18 of the UK’s universities were ranked in the top 100, and 29 in the top 200.

Professor Malcolm Grant, president and provost at UCL, said: “We are pleased by UCL’s spectacular progression up the tables in recent years, because it does reflect the truly outstanding quality of our community of academics and of our students from around the world.” A spokesman for Oxford University said that the institution’s new position was “surprising” and highlighted its strong performance in other league tables and in the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), which rank universities according to the quality of their research.

Elsewhere, Cranfield University in Bedfordshire, Eastern England has been named by BusinessWeek as one of the “World’s Best Design Schools” for its Master of Design (MDes) in Innovation and Creativity in Industry, a collaboration with the University of the Arts London (UAL). The course was singled out in a special report highlighting the importance of integrating design thinking into business. Cranfield’s MDes programme, one of only three courses in the UK to make the list, was selected for its multidisciplinary approach. Students undertake management modules within the Cranfield School of Management, technology and engineering modules with the University’s School of Applied Sciences and study creative techniques in the Centre for Competitive Creative Design (C4D), a joint venture between Cranfield and UAL. The programme, launched in 2008, has already gained recognition within industry, forging links with organisations such as the National Health Service (NHS), Procter & Gamble, Imagination Ltd, Xerox and Ford.

The UK celebrated World Space Week in early October, the largest annual public space event on the planet. Established by the United Nations in 1999, it involves over 60 countries, including all of the world’s space-faring nations, and marks the contributions of space science and technology to human society. The UK’s space sector is second only to that of the US in space science, supporting 68,000 jobs and contributing $10.4 billion to the economy. UK science and engineering expertise features in over 40 operational missions – from Herschel, the largest space telescope ever built – to Galileo, Europe’s first satellite navigation system.

Schools, businesses, clubs and academic institutions across the UK took part in World Space Week, with a range of events including exhibitions, school visits, teacher-training workshops and lectures. There were also activities at the National Space Centre in Leicester, East Midlands to highlight all the different nations involved in space missions. ‘It’s Not Just NASA’ demonstrated the collaboration that created the International Space Station, as well as missions from India, China, Japan, Russia and Europe. Science and Innovation Minister Lord Drayson commented: “The UK excels in space research, leads the world in developing space-based technologies and delivers down-to-earth benefits for millions of people.”

 

Sir Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust, said: “The new Campus will provide state-of-the-art facilities and mentorship for research teams and start-up companies embedded at the heart of GSK’s R&D facilities in Stevenage and near to academic centres of excellence in the South East, including the developing UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation at St Pancras [London].” Richard Ellis, chair of EEDA, added: “Today’s announcement strengthens the region’s position as a world leader in life sciences, it will create thousands of new jobs and enable us to compete on the global stage. It’s a great example of how regional interventions can stimulate projects of national significance with a global outreach.”

Protein Forest, a Boston-based life sciences firm specialising in proteomics, is expanding into Europe via a new base in North East England. The company, which develops equipment and software for scientists working in this field, will work closely with the North East Proteome Analysis Facility (NEPAF) in Newcastle. Proteomics is the study of protein structures and interactions, a field that builds on the discovery of DNA and the human genome and has practical applications from the health industry through to green energy. Protein Forest’s fractionator will help strengthen the North East’s claim to be one of the leading centres for research in this area, with researchers at NEPAF analysing its results. The global market for proteomics was worth $10.7 billion in 2008 and it is estimated that the industry could be worth $31 billion by 2014.

Quintiles Transnational Corp, a biopharmaceutical services company based in Livingston, Scotland has opened a new 115,000 sq ft building in a move that could create up to 150 new jobs. The building already houses 540 staff but has a capacity for 660; it will also allow for a further two-storey extension, which could incorporate a further 200 staff. The development at Livingston’s Alba Campus includes an 80,000 sq ft Central Laboratory, which cost $15.2 million to develop. The newly expanded lab analyses samples from patients participating in clinical trials from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and will have the capacity to increase its workload two- or threefold in future. In addition to the Central Laboratory, the new building will house the company’s Clinical Development Services, including project management, data management and regulatory affairs. Dr Dennis Gillings, chairman and CEO of Quintiles, commented: “Our talented and engaged workforce in Scotland is part of our global network committed to driving productivity and efficiency in drug development.”

Indian-owned Nestor Pharmaceuticals Ltd has refurbished its UK headquarters and high-tech manufacturing plant in Mildenhall, Suffolk in Eastern England and plans to increase its workforce from 30 to over 100 in the next few years. The company has invested over $16 million in the facility, and has started production of a wide range of prescription and over-the-counter medications including amoxicillin, aspirin and diazepam. It now plans a further $4.8 million expansion to increase its packaging capacity beyond its current 1 billion tablets a year, and will also install liquid filling lines and a powder sachet processing plant. Kamlesh Patel, managing director of Nestor UK, said of Suffolk: “The transport links are excellent and the proximity of the Port of Felixstowe is important to us, as is the commitment of the local people who work for Nestor, including the many local suppliers we use.”

Two of Scotland’s leading science institutes are to join forces to form a new ‘powerhouse’ for research into food, land use and climate change. The Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) in Dundee and the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute in Aberdeen are due to merge in April 2011. The SCRI is based at Invergowrie and employs about 300 staff. Its scientists work on potato and soft fruit breeding, pests and disease control, food quality and genetics. The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute employs a similar number of staff and has a focus on land use and sustainable development, as well as providing research and consultancy services to industry. Both institutes already have global connections: the SCRI has international development links to Africa and trade links with China, while the Macaulay Institute is active in more than 40 countries.

Daresbury is one of only two government-funded science and innovation campuses in the UK, and was established with an initial $80 million investment from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA). Its network membership has increased to more than 2,000 individual members in a little over three years, while more than $32 million of investment has been secured by tenant companies. It is now moving into the next phase of development and is currently seeking to identify a private sector partner to develop up to 1 million sq ft of space for business, research and innovation use.

New initiatives on clean energy technologies
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband has announced an extra $32 million of government-backed venture capital support to help develop clean energy technologies. New advances in technologies such as wave, tidal, fuel cells, solar and energy efficiency are dependent on a mixture of R&D grant support and venture capital, but the flow of private money for early stage development has declined since the economic downturn started in 2008. The allocation is the latest instalment of a $648 million pot for investment in low-carbon technologies announced in the last Budget. Up to $480 million has already been allocated for offshore wind technologies, wave and tidal energy and other innovative low-carbon technologies. Mr Miliband said: “It is essential we meet our long-term climate change goals. That’s why we’re intervening with support for tomorrow’s green energy technologies.”

The London Waste and Recycling Fund is to make up to $134 million available until 2012 to improve recycling facilities and waste infrastructure across the capital. Funded by the London Development Agency and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the programme is overseen by the London Waste and Recycling Board. It will provide tailored funding packages comprising grants, loans, equity and guarantees to help recycling organisations carry out a range of projects, including the construction of new recycling, composting and anaerobic digestion facilities; development of technologies and infrastructure to divert waste from landfill and cut CO2 emissions; development of infrastructure to increase the amount of recycled materials used in manufacturing new materials and products; and projects that maximise the opportunities for combined heat and power (CHP). The fund is open to applications from any type of organisation, with a deadline for expressions of interest of 19 January 2010.

Plans for a $264 million power station in South Yorkshire, which will capture and store carbon and create thousands of jobs in the region, have taken a step forward after being recommended for European funding. The coal-fired Powerfuel power station at Hatfield, near Doncaster, will use carbon capture and storage technology (CCS), a process of burying gases that involves liquefying CO2 emissions by burning fossil fuels and then pumping the product out to depleted gas fields. Hatfield’s location is said to be ideal for developing a CCS cluster because of its proximity to a large number of power stations located close to depleted gas fields in the North Sea, which can be used to safely store carbon. Within 15 years the scheme could cut CO2 emissions by up to 60 million tonnes, according to its backers. The 900 MW plant is expected to generate energy for around one million homes.

Meanwhile an anaerobic digestion plant planned for Yorkshire has received $2.7 million from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to become the biggest of its type in the UK. Selby Renewable Energy Park will be built on the site of a former Tate & Lyle citric acid plant, and will create 40 jobs, treat up to 165,000 tonnes of food waste per year and generate 8 MW of energy. WRAP is investing in the plant’s first phase through its Organics Capital Grant Fund, which tries to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by increasing processing capacity for source-segregated food.

Also in Yorkshire, the Centre for Low Carbon Futures is a new joint initiative between a group of universities, led by Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and York, and regional development agency (RDA) Yorkshire Forward. Its goal is to help build a competitive, sustainable and carbon-efficient regional economy, while providing climate change strategies of national and international significance. The Centre aims to improve understanding of the impact and costs of climate change and to identify ways in which organisations and communities can adapt to meet these challenges. The Centre’s first four pilot research projects will cover the regional economics of climate change, low-carbon supply chains, bio-renewables and carbon capture technology.


North East focuses on low-carbon development
A number of low-carbon initiatives are under way in North East England. The New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) at Blyth in Northumberland is upgrading its research facilities with the launch of Project Nautilus, a $16 million marine renewables test rig. Developed with funding from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the 3 MW facility will provide a simulated testing environment for new prototypes, allowing wave and tidal generators to be tested onshore before being deployed in the open sea. Spokesman Stephen Wilson said: “The UK is already a focus for the development and testing of marine energy devices, and this open-access facility will allow developers to test and improve the reliability of their devices throughout the development process. These will range from medium-scale prototypes through to full-scale commercial devices, and involve significantly lower cost and risk in comparison to sea testing.”

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the North East energy sector are to benefit from a new $2.6 million project to exploit new technologies and commercial opportunities, thanks to funding from Newcastle University and the European Union. Newcastle University is to establish a dedicated facility integrating a range of technologies in combined heat and power (CHP), tri-generation (CHP plus refrigeration/cooling) and energy storage to support innovation. These three areas of technology have the potential to improve the efficiency and performance of energy systems, utilise alternative fuel supplies and reduce CO2 and other emissions in electrical power generation and in heating and cooling. A range of new equipment will be installed at the SWAN Thermal Energy Laboratory in the University’s Stephenson Building and the SWAN Trigeneration Facility at NaREC, Blyth.

ICT firms plug into UK skills and workforce
A number of information and communications technology (ICT) companies have announced new investments in the UK, emphasising the country’s strengths in this high-tech sector. In London, for example, US-based online advertising company BrightRoll, which specialises in web-based promotional videos, is to set up an operation to target the European market. The company was recently named the number two US video network in terms of reach, with 16 per cent penetration of all online video viewers, and it hopes to replicate that success in Europe. Its UK launch will be managed by Mark Charkin, ex-global vice president of sales at Bebo, who built that company’s advertising sales business in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Irish ICT provider the Calyx Group is to open a UK HQ in the City of London in order to target the financial services and banking sectors as they emerge from recession. Located in Cannon Street EC4, the office will accommodate up to 50 employees. At the same time, the company has closed its office in Hook, Hampshire, as it consolidates its UK operations. Calyx supplies integrated managed services for a variety of ICT applications and customers, including paperless wards for NHS hospitals, support for 1,000-seat call centres, WANs for bank branch networks and security for national newspapers. It employs 600 staff across 12 different locations and has an annual turnover of $160 million.

Indian IT firm Wipro Technologies is to open a new London office while expanding its operations in Reading in the Thames Valley. Ayan Mukerji, head of European operations, said that the aim was to boost the company’s growth strategy in the UK and Europe. The London HQ will be used primarily for sales while Reading (where the company has had a presence for ten years) will focuses on training, building “centres of excellence” and delivering customer projects. A new $6.4 million building in the Berkshire town will serve as the software supplier’s main point of contact and will manage its finance, IT, sales and development operations. Revenues from Wipro’s European operations account for 26 per cent of its overall IT services revenues. Wipro began life in 1947 as Western India Vegetable Products, a trading company for vegetable oil. In 1977 it moved into the computer sector and progressed from licensing US technology to building its own mini-computer systems. Today it is India’s second largest IT company, with offices in key markets around the world.

eBaoTech, a global provider of insurance software solutions with bases in Shanghai, China and Zurich, Switzerland, has opened an office in Birmingham in the West Midlands. The company’s Europe managing director, Guido Meyerhans, said that establishing a presence in Britain’s second city would allow it to target opportunities in the UK market. “The UK office will work directly alongside the offices in Europe and Asia to offer UK clients and partners access to the full global expertise of eBaoTech whilst providing localised services to our domestic clients,” he added. The company’s web-based administration systems help insurers to shorten product launch lead times and substantially lower operation costs; it has completed 60 successful implementations to date.

German technology company FIS is to boost its investment in North West England via its UK subsidiary, FIS Information Systems. It will focus on sales, marketing and first-line support from its new base at East Manchester’s One Central Park. The company provides business process improvements to organisations with enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions from German software firm SAP. Its 70 SAP installations provide hosting solutions that support 10,000 clients including Audi Automotive, SPAR Supermarkets, Saint-Gobain, Vion Food Group and Artenius Packaging. It leads the market in Europe, and employs 350 staff in Germany, Eastern Europe and the US. With financial support from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), FIS UK will focus on invoice recognition and processing software that integrates with SAP’s master data management tools.

A new internet security facility with international backing has opened at Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The $48 million Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) will lead the UK’s fight against cyber crime by developing new hardware and innovative software to combat computer hacking. The project is backed by a host of multinational companies, including Microsoft, QinetiQ, Thales, BAe Systems, Tyco International, Vodafone and American Dynamics, in addition to the University of California Berkeley and the National Taiwan University. It will employ 80 experts to work in the fields of data encryption, network security and intelligent video analysis. Queen’s University Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Gregson said: “The opening of CSIT at Queen’s is the most bold and exciting development the UK has seen to date in terms of information security. … By coupling the pioneering research undertaken at CSIT with economic development, Queen’s will secure the UK’s position in cyberspace.”

Also in Belfast, NaviNet, the US’s biggest real-time healthcare communications network, is to establish a new R&D centre. The $7 million expansion, the company’s first outside the US, will create 60 high-value jobs. The news came as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid her first visit to Northern Ireland since taking up her post in the Obama administration. Northern Ireland Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said that NaviNet’s decision to invest in the region over a number of alternative international locations showed confidence in its competitiveness. Brad Waugh, NaviNet’s president and CEO, commented: “NaviNet looked at various options and locations for our new R&D centre, but as a result of discussions with Invest NI and our recognition of the many attractions of Northern Ireland as a good place to do business, notably the quality of the workforce, we decided to invest here.”

Another US-based company, BroadSoft, Inc., the leading provider of VoIP applications for the telecommunications industry, is expanding its operations in Belfast. The company’s investment at its new premises in the Northern Ireland Science Park in the Titanic Quarter has been supported by Invest NI. BroadSoft will recruit up to 10 additional high-level telecommunications professionals, which could create 23 new jobs over the next three to five years. The expansion will strengthen the company’s ability to provide real-time technical support and training to its European customers. BroadSoft’s vice president operations, Geoffrey K. Hicks, said: “We have been impressed with the support received from Invest NI to grow our business in Belfast, as well as the availability of a skilled labour pool and the quality of telecommunications professionals that we’ve been fortunate enough to draw from. Our Belfast Centre has proven to be a highly successful addition to our network of technical operations centres around the globe.”


BA launches City of London-NY business class service
British Airways has launched the first long-haul flight from London City Airport – an exclusive, all-business service to New York. The launch flight carried BA’s most prestigious flight number, BA001, formerly used by Concorde. Two uniquely configured Airbus A318s will fly twice daily on the new route, which links the world’s two biggest financial centres. The new service features 32 fully flat beds in a specially designed cabin, and customers will be the first to be able to send emails and texts and use the internet via an in-flight mobile communications service, provided by OnAir. They can also check-in for their flights from London City just 15 minutes before departure.

When they land at JFK Airport they will be treated as domestic arrivals, having already cleared US customs and immigration during a brief refuelling stop at Shannon Airport in the west of Ireland. Fares start from around $3,200 return, including taxes, fees and charges. Willie Walsh, BA’s chief executive, said: “For the first time, the City has a tailor-made premium service to New York on its doorstep offering the most productive possible use of time for business people travelling between the two great financial districts.”

The Department for Transport (DfT) has published UK port statistics for 2008. The figures show that UK ports handled 562 million tonnes (Mt) of freight traffic during the year, 19 million tonnes (3 per cent) less than in 2007, and 6 million tonnes (1 per cent) less than in 1998. Compared with 2007, inward traffic fell by 11 Mt (3 per cent) to 346 Mt while outward traffic declined by 8 Mt (4 per cent) to 216 Mt. Liquid bulk traffic accounted for 43 per cent of the total, dry bulks 23.5 per cent, container and roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) traffic 29 per cent and other cargo 4.5 per cent. Liquid bulk traffic was 4 per cent lower than in 2007 and 16 per cent down on 1998. Dry bulk traffic was marginally lower than in 2007, but 12 per cent up on 1998. Container and ro-ro traffic was 3 per cent down on 2007 and 23 per cent up on 1998.

The leading ports by tonnage in 2008 were Grimsby & Immingham (65.3 Mt), London (53 Mt), Tees and Hartlepool (45.4 Mt), Southampton (41 Mt), Forth (39.1 Mt), Milford Haven (35.9 Mt) and Liverpool (32.2 Mt). Dover, the leading ro-ro port, handled 2.3 million road goods vehicles and unaccompanied trailer units, 3 per cent fewer than in 2007. Felixstowe, the leading container port, handled 1.9 million containers (3.1 million teu), a 6 per cent decrease on 2007.

The overall number of ship arrivals during the year fell by 6 per cent to 131,000, while international sea passenger journeys declined by 2 per cent to 24.2 million passengers. The UK-registered trading fleet increased by 29 to 675 ships during 2008. Overall deadweight tonnage totalled 15 million tonnes (15 per cent up on 2007, and 456 per cent up on 1998). The UK fleet included 133 tankers, 133 ro-ro vessels, 190 container vessels and 37 passenger vessels.


New concept model for JLR; Ford produces 15 millionth engine
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), owned by Tata Motors of India, is to build a production version of its LRX concept car, starting next year. The new model will join the Range Rover line-up in 2011, and will be the smallest, lightest and most efficient vehicle the company has ever produced. Designed and engineered at the company’s Gaydon facility in the West Midlands, the new car will be built at its Halewood plant on Merseyside and will be sold in over 100 countries around the world. Gerry McGovern, Land Rover design director, said: “The new vehicle will be a natural extension to the Range Rover line-up, complementing the existing models and helping to define a new segment.” More details of the vehicle will be released next year.

Meanwhile JLR is to wind down one of its three UK plants, as it consolidates its manufacturing operations to build more vehicles in fewer places. The company is to decide which of its two West Midlands factories, at Castle Bromwich and Solihull, will close by the middle of next year after an analysis of costs and productivity, and talks with unions. JLR said the plant closure – the first to be announced by a European car-maker since the start of the economic downturn – would not entail compulsory redundancies. It has long been thought that JLR, which makes almost 200,000 vehicles at its three UK plants, had one plant too many, especially given the current squeeze on the auto industry. The company has cut production by more than 100,000 units and reduced its headcount by 2,500 since the beginning of the current crisis. The new concept small Land Rover model demonstrates its intention to build more lightweight and lower-emission vehicles.

Increased output at Ford’s petrol engine plant at Bridgend, South Wales has seen the facility pass the milestone of its 15 millionth engine. The plant, which began production in 1980, specialises in engines for Ford’s small and medium cars. Such cars are favoured by the scrappage schemes currently in operation across Europe and are seeing higher sales as drivers switch to smaller, more economic models. Ford production accounts for around 80 per cent of Bridgend’s output, with the balance comprising six- and eight-cylinder engines for Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover. At the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show Ford showed its new generation of EcoBoost high-efficiency low-CO2 petrol engines, the 1.6-litre version of which Bridgend will build from mid-2010.

Japanese car giant Honda is moving production of its Jazz small car from Japan to its plant in Swindon, South West England, where it will produce 20,000 units in the first six months of operation. Previously, the Jazz was made in Japan and shipped to Europe. Moving production from Japan to Swindon is being seen as a clear sign that Tokyo trusts its UK factory, as well as demonstrating that Honda is surviving the global recession relatively well. It is particularly good news for the Swindon plant, which was closed for four months in February, with knock-on effects for the local economy. Honda’s Japanese rivals, Toyota and Nissan, have predicted losses for this year of $4.7 billion and $1.9 billion respectively, while Honda forecasts a “modest profit” of $579 million. Small and fuel-efficient models such as the Jazz, Civic, Accord and CR-V (the smallest 4x4 on the market) account for 75 per cent of Honda’s sales. Toyota and Nissan, on the other hand, have both seen sales fall after they focused heavily on the US 4x4 market.

Accolades for Lotus as Brawn claims F1 crown
TIn the high-performance auto sector, the Lotus Evora sports car has beaten strong competition from 29 other cars to win the Car Magazine title of ‘Performance Car of the Year 2009’. The competition included cars from some of the world’s greatest marques such as Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin. The judging involved exhaustive testing, including extensive tests on public roads and at the Rockingham Motor Speedway circuit. Chris Chilton, assistant editor at Car Magazine, said: “Lotus has managed to transfer everything that we love about the Elise to a bigger, more refined, more grown-up platform... It couldn’t really be much better to drive – the Evora is nigh-on perfect.”

Award-winning Lotus Engineering and Lotus Evora

Meanwhile Lotus Engineering, the UK company’s automotive consultancy division, distinguished itself in the recent British Engineering Excellence Awards, winning the Judges’ Special Award while also being Highly Commended in the Consultancy of the Year category. The judges looked at recent projects and assessed how Lotus Engineering had been able to diversify its knowledge base to deliver world-class engineering solutions. They were impressed that the company had continued to thrive despite the economic problems experienced by the sector over the past 18 months. The panel concluded: “Lotus is a truly excellent organisation and an obvious flag-bearer for all that is good in UK engineering.”

In an even more high-profile victory, UK-based Brawn GP has become the first Formula 1 team to win the constructors’ championship in its debut season, after driver Jenson Button sealed the drivers’ championship at October’s Brazilian Grand Prix. The Brawn team was formed out of the remnants of the former Honda outfit, after the Japanese car giant pulled out of F1 last December due to the global financial crisis (Honda originally purchased the team from British American Racing, which in turn bought it from Tyrrell).

Brawn GP and Jenson Button win F1 championship 2009

The existence of Brawn was confirmed only three weeks before the start of the season and it completed its first on-track testing just a month before the first race. Boss Ross Brawn secured an 11th-hour management buy-out, aided by financial help from Honda and support from engine supplier Mercedes-Benz. As technical director, the 54-year-old Brawn masterminded six consecutive championships for Ferrari between 1999 and 2004 to add to the constructor crown he won with Benetton in 1995.

Based in Brackley, Northamptonshire in the East Midlands, the Brawn team dominated the start of the 2009 season, with Button winning six of the first seven races in a car powered by a Mercedes V8 engine. The second half was harder, but the team went to Brazil needing just half a point to wrap up the title, and came away with five. “To everyone back at the factory in Brackley, thank you for all of your hard work and for producing such a fantastic car,” said Button, who became the tenth British champion in F1 history (following in the footsteps of Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and last year’s champion Lewis Hamilton). Ross Brawn was confident that the team would be able to build on its success for 2010. “We’ve got a good budget for next year. … I'm quietly confident. We’re going to be respectable, for sure,” he said.

Regional news
The London Thames Gateway Development Corporation (LTGDC) has announced that Goodman, a leading integrated property group with extensive global operations, will be the development manager for the London Sustainable Industries Park (SIP). Located at Dagenham Dock to the east of the capital, the SIP represents one of the UK’s most innovative centres for the environmental technology sector and will house the largest concentration of environmental technology companies in the UK. The 25-hectare development will provide a national showcase for businesses delivering recycling and reprocessing technologies, waste-to-energy and combined heat and renewable energy techniques. It will also include an on-site centre of excellence, with the creation of the Thames Gateway Institute of Sustainability. This will give tenants access to national and international networks and best-in-class research teams to support their business.

The BBC has signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with key agencies and organisations in Bristol, South West England to promote digital media production in the city and the wider region. In what is described as the first-ever BBC city partnership, the broadcaster will work with local agencies to boost local TV production and film-making, foster digital skills and media literacy and collaborate on digital and connectivity projects. The agreement builds upon Bristol’s reputation for the creation of world-class content, notably by the award-winning BBC Natural History Unit and in factual programming, wildlife content and animation. Pioneering initiatives such as The Pervasive Media Studio, the Watershed and Knowle West Media Centre are also widely known for their cutting-edge work. BBC director-general Mark Thompson said: “This first city partnership with Bristol will raise the bar on our ambition to spread the economic benefits of the licence fee outside of the BBC and out of London. We can do even more to unlock the creative talents and boost the creative economies across the country.”

Plextek, an electronics and communications design consultancy based in Cambridge, Eastern England, has been named Consultancy of the Year at the 2009 British Engineering Excellence Awards (BEEA). The BEEA judging panel was impressed with the company’s range of design capabilities and its market reach within the communications sector and made particular note of the recent growth in its business. It described Plextek as “an excellent capability: a high-growth consultancy with a low, commercially inspired cost base that has used its communications technology to crash into the military and paramilitary markets as well as achieving civil expansion”. Colin Smithers, managing director of Plextek, said: “Following the two Queen’s Awards we received earlier in the year, this accolade is further reward and recognition for our team’s exceptional talent, dedication and hard work over the last 20 years.” The BEEAs drew over 100 entries and highlighted the best examples of British engineering, from start-up companies to design consultancies and established multinationals.

Approval has been given for construction to start on innovITS – ADVANCE, a new UK centre for the development of intelligent transport innovations (ITS) based at Nuneaton, Warwickshire in the West Midlands. The facility is the result of collaboration between several agencies, with $10.4 million of funding support provided by RDA Advantage West Midlands. It aims to provide an environment that will enable ITS technologies to be developed into real products that can benefit society. It will also add critical mass to the region’s significant automotive cluster by creating a world-class facility that will help spur R&D. The first construction phase of innovITS – ADVANCE is expected to open to customers from the global automotive and telecommunications industries and highways operators and authorities in late spring 2010. Four further phases of development are envisaged over the coming years.

Taiwanese television manufacturer Kenmark is to open a European manufacturing and distribution hub in Corby in Northamptonshire, East Midlands, in what will be the biggest single new investment to the UK from Taiwan. The move will create up to 500 jobs within three years and, when the facility opens early in the New Year, Kenmark will become one of Western Europe’s major assemblers of LCD TV sets. The company, which works with major retailers in the UK, will manufacture TVs to meet demand as the UK rolls out its digital switchover. Company chairman James Hwang, who made the announcement in Taipei alongside UKTI chief executive Sir Andrew Cahn, said: “The location is ideal and provides Kenmark with a base from which to continue our growth.” The UK has attracted the majority of Taiwanese investment in Europe, with 180 Taiwanese companies currently operating in the UK. Many of these, such as D-Link, HTC and Evergreen, use the country as the base for their European headquarters. Other recent investors include IC design company MediaTek, which has set up an R&D centre in Cambridge; Chang Chun Group, which has established a European HQ operation; and Yang Ming Marine, which has expanded its UK operations with an additional logistics centre in Manchester.

US-owned greetings cards group Hallmark Cards plc has invested $19.5 million in a state-of-the-art warehousing and distribution facility in Yorkshire. The 200,000 sq ft facility is based at the company’s site in Bradford and was officially opened by David Hall, president and CEO of Hallmark Cards USA and grandson of founder J.C. Hall. Hallmark Cards is the first greeting cards company in Europe to use a bespoke high-tech, computer-controlled facility of this kind. The system, which allocates each order a unique barcode, has been designed to increase capacity and productivity, and has more than doubled the company’s output to 30,000 packs of cards per hour. David Hall said: “The investment, especially during these challenging economic times, demonstrates our eagerness to remain a leader in our industry. It also highlights our continued and significant commitment to Bradford, which is home to our UK head office.” The USA was again Yorkshire’s top investor in 2008, followed closely by Japan and firms from across Europe. In all, there were 125 investments into the region from overseas companies, attracting over $1 billion of private investment.

Germany’s Koehler conglomerate has acquired the Katz Group, a company based in Leeds, Yorkshire and Humber that makes paper coasters for cups and glasses. The Katz Group was forced to file for insolvency in April due to the effects of the credit crunch and economic downturn, but said that the acquisition would secure its position as a market leader in the worldwide coaster market. UK managing director Garry Hobson said: “The $6.6 million investment from Koehler is a clear signal that the long-term future of Katz and its associate companies will continue. The coaster is a perfect advertising medium for all brands, whether promoting traditional drink and food products or non-drink-related products and services. Our research proves that advertising on beer mats delivers results.”

Yorkshire’s advanced textile manufacturers specialising in woven aircraft components and anti-counterfeiting for the fashion industry are to benefit from a $9.6 million investment programme. The European Regional Development Fund and Yorkshire Forward have invested in a Textile Innovation Programme to help businesses and university researchers develop new high-value products. A series of feasibility studies earlier this year suggested delivering the programme through the Textile Centre of Excellence in Huddersfield. Bill Macbeth, the centre’s managing director, said: “The value of the technical textiles market, which covers a wide range of sectors including medical, engineering, construction, automotive and aerospace, has grown to an estimated [$48] billion.” According to the programme’s feasibility studies, woven carbon fibre components can be stronger than titanium and aluminium, creating vast potential opportunities for their use. The new 787 jumbo jet, for example, currently in development by Boeing, will use a significant proportion of advanced textiles in its construction.

Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) has celebrated the 20th anniversary of its plant at Wakefield, North West England – the largest soft drinks manufacturing site in Europe. CCE has also announced plans to invest $20.8 million in a new can line at the factory which will increase production by an additional 2,000 cans every minute. The site opened in 1989 as part of an original investment of $144 million. Over the past 20 years, further investment of $240 million has meant that it now produces over 1 million cans of product every day. It has also built a track record of milestone environmental achievements, including introducing sustainable packaging across its product range, sourcing cans from a factory next door in order to reduce transportation and, since 2008, sending zero waste to landfill. The plant covers an area the size of 25 football pitches and houses a total of nine production lines. It produces over 100 million cases of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Schweppes every year, and is one of Wakefield’s largest employers, with a workforce of over 500. Since it started production, it has introduced five additional PET lines, one of which has the largest carbonated filler in Europe, producing 1,000 litres of product per minute.

A new electrical research unit has opened within the University of Manchester’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. The National Grid Power Systems Research Centre will help to develop green technology and help to boost energy expertise in North West England. It will complement the existing National Grid High Voltage Research Centre, which is the biggest university-based facility of its kind in the UK and contains a range of high-tech equipment and software, including a 2MV impulse generator.

Local council planning permission has been granted for a new defence training academy in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. Construction is due to begin late next year, although final approval rests with the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The $19.2 billion project at St Athan will provide specialist engineering, communications and information systems training to all the UK’s armed forces, bringing them together in one location on new premises. Metrix, the consortium that will build and run the site, said around 2,200 jobs would be created, mostly in security, cleaning and catering. The facility is planned to open at the beginning of 2014, although it is thought unlikely that a final decision will be made before next year’s general election.

Ningxia Zhongyin Cashmere, a leading Chinese textiles company, has bought Scottish fine yarn-spinning business Todd & Duncan for $9.6 million. The acquisition will secure 200 jobs and the future of the 142-year-old firm, which is based at Kinross on the banks of Loch Leven. The cashmere industry employs 4,000 people in Scotland, contributes $320 million to the economy and is well placed to weather the recession, according to Scottish ministers. Ningxia chairman Ma Shengguo praised the company’s “skilled and talented workforce” and the quality of its yarns. He said: “This acquisition ensures a bright future for Todd & Duncan as one of the world’s leading spinners of quality cashmere yarn, and strengthens Scotland’s global reputation as a leader in luxury fabrics, cashmere knitwear and designer brands.”

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) plans to open a technology service centre in Belfast city centre, Northern Ireland, creating up to 400 technical jobs over the next two years. NYSE chief executive Duncan Niederauer said that the skills base of the region’s workforce, together with the personal relationship struck up with political leaders at the Northern Ireland assembly at Stormont were reasons behind the investment. Northern Irish ministers have been lobbying hard in the US for more investment, and last year industry leaders from 80 US companies attended a conference in Belfast outlining potential investment opportunities. Some 18 months ago the NYSE bought Belfast software company Wombat, and since then has been talking to investment agency Invest Northern Ireland about expanding. Invest NI will provide up to $15.4 million to support the project. The US-based financial group Citi already employs about 800 people in Belfast in a technology service centre.
 

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