KEY APPOINTMENTS Etihad Airways lands in Manchester

The United Arab Emirates’ national airline, Etihad Airways, is to create 160 jobs with the development of a new contact centre in Manchester. Operating alongside the airline’s existing contact centres in Abu Dhabi, India and Australia, the site will be operational by 2012. Commenting on the announcement, Etihad chief

executive offi cer, James Hogan, said: “We looked closely at a range of potential locations in the UK and Europe, and undertook extensive research to fi nd the location that offered us a population base with the right mix of languages and skill sets, as well as a high quality of telecommunications infrastructure.”

UK leads in ‘legal excellence’ 5 £23.1bn 900new jobs generated per year

A new Action Plan, published by the Ministry of Justice and UK Trade & Investment, aims to strengthen the UK’s reputation as a world leader in legal services, including commercial arbitration, mediation and court services. The sector generates £23.1bn per year, equivalent to 1.8 per cent of national GDP in 2009. Alongside increased international dispute- resolution levels and globally recognised judgments, the opening of the Rolls Building in London later this year will create a single site for the Commercial Court, the Technology and Construction Court and the Chancery Division.

Nick Baird has been appointed as CEO of UK Trade & Investment, replacing deputy CEO Susan Haird, who has acted as an interim, later this year. Currently Director-General Europe and Globalisation at the Foreign Offi ce, Baird was previously Ambassador to Turkey. He said: “The launch of the new strategy for UK Trade & Investment makes this an exciting time for me to be taking up this role. This strategy will place the nation’s commercial interests at the heart of its foreign policy and I hope to lead this organisation in successfully delivering this aim.” Michael Boyd, a former Ernst &

Young Global Board member, has joined UK Trade & Investment as a managing director, leading the organisation’s Strategic Relationship Management team, charged with developing high level relationships with inwards investors. Lord Marland, Under Secretary of

State at the Department for Energy and Climate Change, has been appointed chairman of the Business Ambassadors Group at UK Trade & Investment. He will lead trade delegations overseas to encourage more UK businesses to export and to promote British innovation.

Amazon bookmarks new UK base

Online retailer Amazon has announced the creation of more than 900 jobs over the next fi ve years with the opening of a new customer-service centre at Waverley Gate, Edinburgh to provide technical support for Amazon Kindle and MP3. The centre will open in August, ahead of the company’s new one million sq. ft. fulfi lment centre in Dunfermline which will create

750 permanent jobs and 1,500 temporary roles during the Christmas retail peak. Allan Lyall, vice president of European

operations and customer service at Amazon, says: “Scotland has been home to a number of Amazon fulfi lment centres for many years and we are delighted to be expanding our operations within the country.”

springboard: | www.ukti.gov.uk | page 07

Photograph: Getty Images