Moving on Relocations and expansions

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MOVINGON

Relocations and expansions across Europe

BMW Group invests in UK manufacturing operations

The BMW Group has announced an additional £500 million investment in its UK production network over the next three years and confirmed that the UK will be a production location for its next generation MINI models. This takes the company’s investment across all its UK operations to more than £1.5 billion since 2000.

“We have started preparing our UK plants for production of the next generation MINI and this investment underlines that the UK will remain the heart of MINI production,” announced Norbert Reithofer, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG, during his visit to London on Thursday. “The MINI brand has made a significant contribution to BMW Group’s success in markets around the world and we anticipate that this will grow further in the future.”

The BMW Group has been producing MINI at Plant Oxford since 2001. In that time nearly two million vehicles have been produced at the plant and more than 1.5 million MINIs have been exported to customers in 90 different countries. Visit: www.bmw.de E.ON has inaugurated a modern combined cycle gas turbine plant at Malženice in Slovakia with a capacity of 436 megawatts. The plant, representing an investment of €400 million, marks a key milestone in Slovakian power generation as it has an efficiency of more than 59%. Due to its great flexibility it is making a substantial contribution to compensating for the fluctuating production of electricity from renewable energies, thereby keeping the power grid stabile.

Jørgen Kildahl, member of the board of E.ON AG responsible for the global generation business, said, “The new Malženice power station is our biggest single investment in Slovakia so far. With its high efficiency it contributes to making the country’s power generation even more climate- and environmentallyfriendly. CO2 emissions for instance are about 25% lower than at existing plants in Slovakia.” Visit: www.eon.com

New E.ON combined cycle gas turbine plant in Slovakia

Rolls-Royce opens new dealership in Montreal

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has opened a new dealership in Montreal, the third franchise to be established in Canada. The move heralds a return to Quebec for Rolls-Royce after an eight year absence.

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: “North America is Rolls-Royce’s largest market. With the addition of our new Montreal franchise, partnering our Toronto and Vancouver dealerships, we can now serve our customers wherever they may be in Canada.” Visit: www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com

AkzoNobel opens fire protection R&D facility

AkzoNobel has opened a €7 million state-of-the-art fire protection laboratory at its Felling site in the UK, part of a major €10 million investment in research, development and innovation (RD&I) which will create around 40 new jobs.

The lab will be operated by the company’s Marine and Protective Coatings business, which is the leading supplier of fire protection coatings used to protect steel structures such as buildings and oil and gas installations. The global market is growing rapidly due to increasingly stringent fire protection regulations worldwide, with forecasters expecting demand to double by 2018. Visit: www.akzonobel.com

Wärtsilä expands its services in Poland

Wärtsilä Corporation has opened a new workshop in Gdansk, Poland. Located close to Polish shipyards and ports, the workshop further strengthens Wärtsilä’s presence in the Baltic area and its position as the leading services provider for shipping customers visiting Poland. The new facilities enable advanced servicing and repairs of engine components, as well as enhanced re-machining capabilities. Included among the new activities that will be undertaken are the overhaul of fuel pumps, fuel valves and air coolers, and overhauls of bow thruster units. “Our customers will benefit from the increased range of services we now can provide,” says Wojtek Wlodarczak, president and service manager, Wärtsilä Polska. “We now can handle very large engine assemblies. The new facilities also enable us to carry out engine repairs and overwhauls using the very latest technologies, and to further expand in areas such as propulsion equipment and electrical and automation services.” Visit: www.wartsila.com