10 NEWS
JCB ANNOUNCES £50 MILLION INVESTMENT IN NEW BRITISH PLANT
new factory will be the most advanced and productive cab facility in the world and will bring even greater levels of efficiency to the business. The investment is one of the biggest in the company’s history and underlines our commitment to manufacturing in Britain and in our home county of Staffordshire.”
This new factory will be the most advanced and productive cab facility in the world and will bring even greater levels of efficiency to the business.
JCB has announced an investment of more than £50 million in a new British plant which will create hundreds of jobs and double production of cabs used on its machines. Work is underway on a 350,000 sq ft facility for JCB Cab Systems adjacent to the A50 in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, next
to two existing JCB plants. The hi-tech factory will have the capacity to produce around 100,000 cabs a year. It will include a computer controlled production line, fully- automated painting facility and robotic welding and will create more than 200 new jobs by 2022.
JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said: “This
Burton and Uttoxeter MP Andrew Griffiths is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He said: “This is fantastic news for Uttoxeter, for Staffordshire and also the wider Midlands’ economy. This investment represents a massive boost for the area and underlines what a great place Staffordshire is to do business. It’s wonderful to see JCB continuing to invest in the county and in British manufacturing – something that can only attract even more inward investment.” JCB Cab Systems currently employs more than 400 people at its existing site in Rugeley, Staffs. The new plant is scheduled to open in the summer of 2019.
UK EXPORTS AT RECORD HIGH
Exports of UK goods and services rose to a record high of £620.2 billion in the year to March 2018 according to new trade figures released at the start of July. Exports grew faster to Canada (up 12.7%), India (31.8%) and China (15.3%) than to the EU (10%).
Goods exports were up 10%, driven by a demand for manufactured goods, while services exports rose 4.2% due to strong global interest in the UK’s prestigious financial and travel services. Non-EU countries remain the main destination for UK services (£167.4 billion), making up 60.4% of all services exports.
The figures also reveal the trade deficit
continuing to narrow over the last year by £7.7 billion to £23.1 billion. Over the same period, the UK’s current account deficit also narrowed to £80.3 billion, down by £12.2 billion from 12 months earlier. This is the narrowest deficit as a percentage of GDP since 2012.I The country also remains a strong destination for investment with nearly 76,000 new jobs created as a result of inward investment from foreign direct investment projects in 2017 / 18, more than the previous year.
Figures from the Department for International Trade show 2,072 new projects recorded, creating 75,968 new jobs and safeguarding 15,063, amounting
WELDING WORLD MAGAZINE | ISSUE 04 | AUGUST 2018
to nearly 1,500 new jobs per week across the country. Through
great.gov.uk, the department gives UK businesses access to millions of pounds’ worth of potential overseas business. It also puts firms in touch with global buyers and since its launch it has promoted 17,500 export opportunities, and helped around 3.6 million users either begin or grow their exporting journeys (from November 2016 to May 2018).
Research from Barclays Corporate Banking found that 64% of consumers in India, 57% in China, and 48% in the UAE were prepared to pay more for goods made in the UK, because they perceive the quality as higher.
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