[15
MAY 00] MARCONI NEWS
New Coventry Marconi Jobs Confirmed
BY ANTONY HOPKER
Trade
and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers and Marconi boss Lord Simpson
have confirmed that thousands of new jobs are coming to Coventry.
Marconi’s
new communications headquarters will be built on a former airfield in
Ansty. The project will create 2,200 new jobs over the next five
years, with over 1,000 in the first two years.
A
further 700 jobs are likely to be created in the construction industry
and Marconi is also to develop stronger links with the University of Warwick.
Workers
made redundant by Rover at the Longbridge plant are to be interviewed
and offered retraining.
A
government grant of £25 million is being given to the communications
giant to help finance the move.
Up
to 2,000 jobs could be created at the existing Marconi site in New
Century park, which will be re-developed for residential, commercial
and industrial use.
Announcing
the new headquarters, Stephen Byers said:
“Exactly
seven weeks ago on 27 March I put the case to George Simpson that
the UK in general and the West Midlands in particular would be an
ideal location for Marconi’s new communications headquarters.
“This
decision represents a vote of confidence in the West Midlands.
“It
shows that the skills and manufacturing expertise that exist in the
region make it an attractive location for high-tech manufacturing
companies like Marconi.
“With
the help of £25 million Regional Selective Assistance, Marconi’s
state-of-the-art facilities will be constructed at Ansty near
Coventry on a former airfield.
“The
construction sector is likely to benefit with an extra 700 jobs.
“The
Ansty site is some 30 miles from Longbridge and Marconi have agreed
to interview staff made redundant at Longbridge to fill the new
vacancies.
“Those
selected will be retrained for telecommunications work.
“Increasingly,
manufacturing will need to link up with information technology if it
is to survive in the new global economy.
“Securing
this project for the United Kingdom puts us in a strong position and
we shall be working to encourage the creation of a high-technology
communications based cluster in the West Midlands using the Marconi
investment as the catalyst.”
Lord
Simpson, chief executive of Marconi, said the expansion was an
expression of the firm’s confidence in the West Midlands.
He
said:
“Marconi
is now one of the world’s fastest growing information and IT
companies and the new jobs announced today will be a vital part of
that exciting future.
“Our
operations are growing world-wide.
"We
recently committed to expand our facilities in the USA and we’re
looking at a similar expansion in Italy, so we’re particularly
pleased that we can now do the same here in the UK.
“The
jobs being created today are significant not only in terms of
numbers, but even more importantly in the quality of the employment
they bring to the West Midlands.
“Marconi
operates in some of the most exciting markets of the new economy –
communications, IT and the new internet technology.
“These
jobs will be high value-added posts – engineers, researchers,
technologists and the like.
“They
are the jobs of the future. They are jobs in an expanding industry
with bright prospects.”
Alex
Stephenson, chairman of Advantage West Midlands said thousands more
jobs would also be created on Marconi’s current site in New Century
Way, Stoke.
He
said:
“Our
team has worked extremely hard to help create this opportunity,
which involves not only a massive investment, but an innovative land
swap deal.
“This
is a major boost to the West Midlands economy and demonstrates once
again that we continue to attract global companies to the region.”
Professor
Kumar Bhattacharyya, head of the Warwick Manufacturing Group
at the University of Warwick, added:
“I am delighted at the news
of Marconi’s expansion plans,
“This is a sign of confidence
in the West Midlands economy in general and in Coventry and
Warwickshire in particular.
"What is really important
is the type of investment being made in the technology of the future
without which the internet and therefore the e-businesses of the
future could not develop”.
“We have been working very closely
with Marconi since we forged the Knowledge Partnership when they
where still known as GEC.
"Since then we have
developed a dedicated Masters programme for Marconi (International
Technology Management MSc).
“We are confident that the
managers we have trained across the company from the US and from
continental Europe will lead the company on to even greater success
in the future."
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