GKN is warning that unless the UK government helps fund a planned composites research centre next to its factory in Cowes in the Isle of Wight it could build the centre in the USA or Germany instead. "We would like to put it next to Cowes, but the investment will be up to £7 million [$13.3 million] in the first one or two years and we would be looking for a significant proportion of that," says GKN. It says several US and German states, keen to boost their aerospace sectors, have hinted at offering funding.
The company had wanted to begin work on the research centre last year, but is now "locked in talks" with the UK Department of Trade and Industry and the project is "now not likely to be commissioned until next year", GKN says.
The centre will employ about 25 graduates and do mostly proprietary research, with some third-party work. Choosing Cowes would compensate for 700 job losses - half the workforce - at the factory, which specialises in nacelles, since 11 September 2001.
Source: Flight International