Bradford Promoted at London Business Event

The reasons why a number of high-profile businesses choose Bradford as their headquarters were outlined during a London event promoting the district.

A delegation from Bradford Council met with more than 40 business representatives and intermediaries in the capital to explain what makes the likes of Morrisons, Provident Financial, Pace, Yorkshire Building Society, Kelda and Hallmark locate their head offices in the district.

They heard that Bradford has one of the UK's fastest growing populations and is home to more than 20 PLCs who employ over 11,000 people. Headquarter operations based within the district collectively employ more than 300,000 people across the UK.

Speakers included Martyn Jones, Morrison's Group Corporate Service Director, Peter Crook, Provident Financial Chief Executive, Peter Miller, Westfield Chief Operating Officer, Tony Reeves, Bradford Council's Chief Executive, and the new Lord Mayor of the City of London, Bradford-born David Wootton.

The event, which was also attended by Coun David Green, Executive Member for Regeneration and Economy, was sponsored by Pinsent Masons and held at the law firm's London office.

In October the Government confirmed Bradford had secured £17.6m of Regional Growth Fund investment in the city centre aimed at supporting new and existing businesses that commit to long term investment.

Businesses which locate in the zone will be able to claim a proportion of their business rates over three years providing they create training and employment opportunities for local people.

Meanwhile construction of the six-acre City Park in the centre of Bradford continues towards completion in January. It has been designed to be attractive to residents, visitors and businesses and support the local economy over the long-term.

Coun David Green, Bradford Council's Executive Member for Regeneration and Economy, said: "This was a great opportunity to sell the benefits of the district to end users and intermediaries and tell them directly why Bradford is a brilliant place to invest.

"The calibre of speakers we were able to bring to the platform showed the level of belief there is in Bradford and how committed major businesses are to the district.

"The audience was impressed to see that despite the difficult economic times nationally, projects like City Park and the successful Regional Growth Fund application are still progressing in Bradford.

"We have got an excellent set of attributes – like access to a fast-growing and skilled workforce, a strong range of commercial property opportunities and great transport links.

"The feedback we got from London was very encouraging and we'll be following up the contacts we have built as we look to promote the district and boost the local economy.”

Martyn Jones, Morrison's Group Corporate Service Director, said: "Morrisons is proud of its Bradford roots and remains a real supporter of the city and wider district.

"There is a great entrepreneurial spirit here, deep business foundations and a cultural diversity which is a tremendous asset in today's global economy.

"Talking about the attributes that make Bradford the right location for Morrisons and similar major companies hopefully highlights why it makes a great investment opportunity for other businesses.”

For more information please see the Invest in Bradford website.

For media enquiries please contact 01274 433 526 or press.communications@bradford.gov.uk.

Siemens' Flagship Leeds Facility Gears Up for Growth

A new mechanical drives ‘centre of excellence’, opened by Siemens in Leeds earlier this year and involving a £1.2 million relocation, is now fully operational and poised for further growth.

The brand new facility specialises in assembly and servicing of gear units, motors, geared motors and couplings used in rail transport, power generation and other large scale industrial applications.

Currently employing a 60-strong workforce, it is poised for further expansion to meet growing demand, particularly in the renewables sector with offshore wind and tidal power seen as offering major opportunities.

The 15,000 sq m unit in Stourton, Leeds, is an authorised service centre for Winergy, the world’s largest provider of wind turbine units, and is equipped with overhead cranes with a 25 tonne lift capacity and a state of the art demonstration centre.

Siemens currently has 13 manufacturing sites in the UK and around 8,000 of the German-owned company’s UK workforce are employed in manufacturing and engineering across four key sectors of industry, infrastructure and cities, energy and healthcare.

Simon Nadin, general manager at the Leeds facility, said: “The new facility gives us the future proofing that will allow us to grow the business and we do have ambitious expansion plans.”

“The site now assembles, designs and develops drive train industrial transmission technology systems for applications such as water, aggregates, energy and transport.

“But it’s not just about products; our customers increasingly expect value generation around the packages that we tailor to their requirements. The focus is now on energy and operational efficiency, service, maintenance and safety.”

The investment in Leeds is part of a strategic move into renewable energy technologies and complements plans for a major wind turbine plant being developed in partnership with Associated British Ports in Hull.

For further information please contact:

David Baggaley, Marketing Manager
Leeds City Council Business & Enterprise
Tel 0113 220 6350
Email@ david.baggaley@locateinleeds.co.uk

Note for editors

Leeds is the UK’s second largest centre for manufacturing outside London, with over 36,000people employed by 1,815 companies across engineering, print and paper manufacture, food and drink, electronics, textiles and medical technologies. The sector generates 10.8% of the city’s £17.8 billion annual output.

Pioneering Partnership to Take Wave Power to China

The European Marine Energy Centre is joining forces with their Chinese counterpart to develop a wave test centre in Shandong Province.

Staff from Scotland’s wave and tidal energy hub, which is based in the Orkney Islands, will work with the Ocean University of China as part of the agreement, while a closer partnership with the Qingdao Municipal Science and Technology Commission is also proposed.

Established in 2003, EMEC is the world's only accredited wave and tidal test centre for marine renewable energy.

EMEC commercial director Richard Morris said: "Our knowledge and understanding of how to design, set up and operate a test centre, backed up by robust methodologies and processes, gives us the unique capability to provide consultancy support to other countries wishing to set up their own marine energy test sites.

"This strategic collaboration further reinforces EMEC's world-leading position at the forefront of the renewable energy industry."

Professor Hongda Shi, Dean, College of Engineering, OUC said: "Ocean University China and Qingdao Municipal Science and Technology Commission are pleased to have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with EMEC.

“We look forward to sharing ideas that will further the marine renewable industry in China utilising the expertise already built up in Scotland.

“We envisage a long and fruitful relationship between the three organisations."

For further information please contact emma.tessier@edpa.biz.

GCEF Recognises Barcelona's Commitment to Energy

Leading figures in the green sector have urged international cities to use Barcelona as their inspiration, after naming the city as the permanent home of the Global Clean Energy Forum.

The decision, made to throw the spotlight on Barcelona and Catalonia’s green energy plans, was announced at this year’s forum, which was held in the city in October.

The event was attended by more than 250 industry experts, and climaxed with the Barcelona Clean Energy Tour, featuring visits to the environmentally friendly constructions like the Agbar Tower, and the Energy Institute of Catalonia (ICAEN).

The tour was conducted in a hybrid bus.

The Global Clean Energy Forum meets once a year to discuss solutions to the challenges of climate change, renewable energy financing and the new energy mix. This year’s event was held at Hotel Arts in Barcelona.

For more information contact isabel.ponti@barcelonactiva.cat or emma.tessier@edpa.biz.

Unique Broker Dedicated to Green Insurance Launches

Green companies are set to benefit from the launch of the first insurance company dedicated to the recycling and renewable energy sector.

Nviro Insurance was officially launched in June by Paul Davies, who is putting 25 years’ experience in insurance to good use in ensuring all environment-related businesses are fully protected by a range of covers – many of which are unique to the sector.

He made the move after recognising the unique insurance requirements of green companies were not properly served by the UK’s 3000 general insurance brokers and intermediaries.

He said: “Many of the UK’s existing insurance brokers will be handling enquiries from the recycling and renewables sector every day, but we are the only broker working in this sector all day, every day.

“There are particular circumstances which are unique to this industry, which means companies in the sector need to ensure they deal with a broker with the knowledge and experience.

“Otherwise they may not be properly insured when they make a claim, or a claim is made against them.”

The firm’s expertise has already been called into action for owners of an offshore wind farm, which had to cross several parcels of unregistered land with their pipelines to connect to the National Grid.

As no-one was registered as the owner of parts of the land being crossed, this could have lead to major problems should an owner come forward after the work had taken place.

Paul Davies said: “We organised a policy which provided cover of up to £25m should anyone claim ownership of the land and prevent access, or require cabling to be re-routed.

“It protects them against the re-routing costs, and loss of profits during any downtime.”

Nviro Insurance specialises in helping companies and professional advisors in the bio energy, hydro power, solar pv, wind farms, and recycling and environment sectors.

They provide a range of services, from claims and risk management to business continuity planning and expert witness reports.

Further information is available at www.nviroinsurance.co.uk

Media enquiries should be directed to Paul Davies on 01782 712224 or paul@nviroinsurance.co.uk.

Bradford Investment Opportunities London Event

Invest in Bradford is hosting an event in London on Wednesday, 23 November. The event, titled Investment Opportunities in Bradford: The North's HQ Location of Choice, will highlight the upcoming events and developments that are happening in Bradford. The event will also provide a great networking experience for developers and business community members.

Bradford is currently undergoing major developments such as a new City Park (pictured) which will be located in the heart of Bradford, showcasing beautiful landscape and architectural designs. The new park will include a 'Business Forest' which will bring skilled jobs and investment back to the heart of the city. Numerous other development opportunities are in the planning process, and you can find out more about them here.

Bradford is one of the UK's largest and fastest growing cities, home to 20 plc companies employing over 11,000 people. Many major businesses have already located their headquarters in Bradford such as Morrisons, Yorkshire Building Society, and Provident Financial. The district offers a highly skilled workforce, exciting new commercial property opportunities as well as excellent transport links.

The event, which is from 11:00-13:00, is being opened by Lord Mayor of London elect David Wooton and will include presentations from the Chief Executive of the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council Tony Reeves, Martyn Jones of Morrisons, Peter Crook of Provident Financial plc, and Westfield Bradford. The presentations will be until 12:20, with an opportunity to network with other developers, business district members, MP's, Councillors and Council Executives over a buffet lunch following.

Please register your interest as soon as possible, as the event is filling quickly. Email your RSVP to jonathan.riley@pinsentmasons.com with the names of the contact from your organisation, who will be attending as well as any other special dietary requirements. You can find the invite on their website here.

For more information please see the Invest in Bradford website.

Meccano Toys Moves Back to Northern France

Meccano, one of the largest European toy manufacturers, has recently moved a segment of its production operations back to France. 

Alain Ingberg, Managing Director, explains that the move was done in stages over two years, and the investment began back in 2005 with the upgrading of facilities in Calais. "Now we are able to put a 'Made in France' logo on all our Calais-produced toys," he said.

According to Ingberg, Meccano decided to move back a portion of their Chinese manufacturing to Calais for two main reasons; "Firstly, we already had facilities there but they were under-used. We wanted them to be working to full capacity. Secondly, production in China was beginning to be problematic. The cost of labour was rising and delays in delivery had doubled and were increasing." Since moving production back to Calais, Meccano are able to offer significantly more flexibility.

Another influence was currency - the company's investment in China was primarily to serve the dollar market. It's more difficult to sell to Americans and Australians in euros than in dollars. Now that the euro is so much stronger than the dollar, Meccano has less interest in these markets.

Regional support in France offered another draw. "We didn't make the decision based on state funding, but we were helped enormously by the regional development agencies (CDCE et de Finorpa) during the difficult transition period," explains Ingberg.

Background:

Meccano is probably the oldest toy manufacturer in the world. Founded in Liverpool in 1898, its first factory was built in the UK. Meccano subsequently and for many years ran one factory in East Germany and one in France. The German factory closed down during the Second World War, and the British one closed around the same time due to low profits. So, only the French factory remained, first in Bobigny and then - from the 1950s - in Calais.

Spot Light on Future of UK Manufacturing at Leeds Event

The future of UK manufacturing will be high on the agenda at a major event taking place in Leeds at the end of November.

Business leaders and industry experts will gather at Leeds Valley Park on November 24^th, to debate the role of manufacturing and what needs to be done if the sector is to play its full part in rebalancing the UK economy.

Panellists include Juergen Maier, MD of Siemens UK Industry Sector, and Steve Pateman, Head of Commercial Banking at Santander. The discussion will be chaired by Peter Marsh, the UK manufacturing editor of the Financial Times.

Leeds City Council Marketing Manager David Baggaley said: “The Leeds City Region is the UK’s largest manufacturing centre outside London, and many of the companies based here are world leaders in their field.

“The Business of Manufacturing event will showcase the strengths of the sector in Leeds and the wider city region.

“The event will also offer practical advice on a range of key issues affecting the sector including skills, supply chain development, succeeding in export markets and opportunities presented by the new enterprise zones.

The free event runs from 8am to 11am and has been sponsored by Goodman, the developer of Leeds Valley Park, the Manufacturing Advisory Service, Leeds Manufacturing, and Leeds, Yorks and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.

To register, visit Register Manufacturing Leeds.

Further information is available from David Baggaley at Leeds City Council on 0113 220 6350 or david.baggaley@locateinleeds.co.uk.

$50 Million Investment in Helicopter Manufacturing Venture, UAE

The Dh183m manufacturing facility will be based in Umm Al Quwain, an emirate in the UAE.

Quest Investment is pumping Dh183 million ($50 million) into the new enterprise. A new manufacturing plant will be developed on a 40,000 sq m plot in Umm Al Quwain, according to Yousuf Al Ansari, CEO of the new Quest Helicopters.

The helicopters will retail at $2.95 million each, and are aimed at the growing needs of VIPs, security agencies, police surveillance units, emergency response and humanitarian teams as well as the oil field supplies market in the region.

The prototype helicopters were designed by Ukraine's Volodymyr Udvenko and will feature a new series of engines built in the Ukraine. "The long life airframes have been engineered for robust operations, and feature a raft of cutting-edge technologies. These include an all-new primary fly-by-wire control system, a distinctive ejectable crew and passenger safety capsule cabin and a telemetry downlink maintenance monitoring system," said a Volodymyr Udvenko spokesperson.

Al Ansari stated, "We want to bring in the latest technology available in the market that will help create value to the overall aviation industry in the region and create employment for young Emiratis."

The Quest AVQ series will be the first civil helicopters to be manufactured in the UAE, and is currently in the design and development stage. Al Ansari anticipates that, "The helicopter will enter into the flight testing process from 2013 and we expect it to enter into commercial production by 2014."

The plant in Umm Al Quwain will have the facilities to assemble 50 helicopters a year, and the project is expected to generate new jobs from the end of 2012. It is one of many aviation industry ventures that are establishing UAE as an aviation centre in the Middle East.

According to Ajay Chaukulkar, chief executive of Sharjah-based Aerostar, "The opportunities in the region's aviation industry are numerous and there is no reason why investors should not take advantage of them by investing in aviation companies."

Bombardier Inc Investing in Morocco

Bombardier Inc, manufacturer of a large range of regional and business aircraft, revealed Wednesday 15 November that its aerospace division will be investing $200 million over eight years to set up a manufacturing facility in Morocco.

The region has already attracted France's EADS and Safron in a government attempt at developing the North African country's aerospace industry.

Bombardier has manufacturing plants in the United States, Northern Ireland, and Mexico. Much of the company's commercial and business jet production takes pace in Canada, but high labour costs and a strong Canadian dollar have increased production costs. Setting up a facility in Morocco is 'consistent with their strategy to improve their overall cost of structure,' BMO Capital Markets analyst Fadi Chamoun said.

The production of the plant will begin in 2013. Much of the manufacturing will be on simple plane parts, such as floor sections and panels, and will not be part of a specific plane program, said Bombadier spokeswoman, Haley Dunne.

The announcement coincides with the Dubai Airshow taking place this week, where Bombardier unveiled the flight deck of its new C-series plane and received an initial order for 10 single aisle jets.