Tender tenterhooks

SPANISH company CAF is waiting to learn if it has won the contract to build 117 trains for Portugal’s state ­ run rail operator Comboios de Portugal (CP).

As well as CAF, headquartered in Beasain (Guipuzcoa), Alstom (France) and Stadler (Switzerland) are in the running for the €819 million contract for 55 regional and 62 local trains. Portugal can no longer build its own after the Bombardier plant closed in 2004 and ­ although not a tender stipulation ­ the three finalists are committed to investing in local production, knowing that CP will take this into account.

Each of the rolling stock manufacturers has a production centre in Spain but none is currently present in Portugal.

No takeover

explaining the government had missed out on an opportunity to introduce short­term business visas for top­level and highly skilled contractors.

“This would alleviate some of the resourcing challenges facing the UK, without impacting immigration on a longerterm basis,” the APSCo director claimed.

Other countries including Denmark and Germany were already adapting to this requirement, and the UK needed to play catch­up in that respect, Bowers pointed out. “Aside from the positive impact that this would have on immigration numbers, it would also strengthen the attractiveness of the county for highly skilled contractors.

“Access to short­term visas appealed to those working in the flexible labour market,” she said. “As other countries introduce more adaptable working routes, the UK will continue to lose its competitive advantage for attracting key skills.”

ROYAL MAIL’S biggest shareholder dismissed rumours of a takeover bid for the UK postal group but warned it should “adapt” to be successful.

Billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who owns 25 per cent of Royal Mail’s parent, International Distributions Services (IDS), also said that the company should remain on the stock market where British citizens could invest in its shares.

Going further

FRENCH hotel group B&B appointed Enrique Francia, former chief executive of Spain’s VIPs fast food chain, as the company’s non­executive president for Spain and Portugal, in a bid to ramp up the company’s expansion in the Iberian Pensinsula. At present B&B owns 45 hotels in Spain and 11 in Portugal which have more than 4,000 rooms between them.