Aero-engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce is to hold another of its select suppliers’ conferences in September as part of the company’s New Deal and Supplier Charter.
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The UK could become the Internet capital of Europe, according to the boss of semiconductor giant Intel. Craig Barrett, the firm’s chief executive, told a conference in London that strong telecommunications links with the US could entitle Britain to act as the European gateway for transatlantic electronic trade.
British suppliers should tread carefully when dealing with Japanese customers, warned Neill Irwin, an ICL purchasing board member and director of the DTI/CBI initiative Partnership Sourcing, which recently visited Japan.
Kenichi Ohmae
Nicholas Brealey, £18.99
Supplier problems are partly to blame for a fall in sales of Sony’s PlayStation 2 games console. The Japanese electronics giant cut its sales forecast by 1 million to 9 million units by March, after a 15 per cent fall in shipments from software developers, and problems with the console’s graphics synthesiser chip.
A Dutch firm has joined the UK and Germany in the multi-role armoured vehicle programme, cutting Britain’s share of trial and development costs by £5 million. Stork will partner Britain’s Alvis Vehicles and Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegman and MAK in a £110 million contract to produce 2,000 vehicles by 2006.
Consignia is to outsource most of its £300 million IT function. The company is hoping for a joint venture in which it will retain a 51 per cent stake and expects to award the contract within 15 months. The group is also in talks with BT, which has expressed an interest in operating Consignia’s fleet of 40,000 vehicles.
Energy minister Brian Wilson has proposed two new clauses for power generator licences to promote good behaviour and guard against anti-competitive practices in the new electricity wholesale market.
Defence Estates is expected to halve the number of prime regional contracts, including facilities management and repair and operations, to be signed over the next three years. Seven “one-stop-shops” contracts will see a single contractor overseeing work in a region. Contracts should not exceed £1 billion.