Cars are Recalled for Safety Checks

Last year 21,000 Toyota vehicles from the UK were recalled back to their factories for safety checks. Now some 97,000 Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 models from across Europe are being recalled for similar issues. The checks will be to see if the floor mats are causing the accelerator to stick.

At the same time Honda are calling back 171,000 of their Jazz models in the UK to fix problems with the windows' electronics.

Source: Working Lunch, BBC. (01-02-2010)

Cars are Recalled for Safety Checks

Arriva and SNCF Talk About Partnership

The British bus and train company Arriva mentioned having talks with French national train company SNCF about a possible partnership.

Arriva currently runs most of the train services as well as the cross country network. Partnering with SNCF could mean that the French company may invest in these operations of Arriva. In the process Arriva could also help SNCF in any conflict with the German train company Deutsche Bahn.

Europe's railways have also been opened to new competition laws since the start of the year.

Arriva and SNCF Talk About Partnership

UK Space Industry

When imagining space crafts most people would think of the USA. However there is also a growing space industry in the UK. The space industry is said to be one of the highest value adding sectors in the UK economy.

Surrey Satellite Technology is a manufacturing company in this industry based in Guildford, Surrey, although their products are usually launched in sites across the former USSR.

The company launched 34 satellites in the last 25 years. Most of the satellites they make are for taking images of the Earth using cameras, but they also make other telecommunication and navigational ones as well. The biggest contract they have right now is making 'Galileo' which will be a navigation system for Europe and up against Americas GPS system.

The company claims to already be popular within the industry. The popularity has grown out of the country and last year a European Satellite manufacturer bought a controlling stake of the business.

So how does this small British company compete with the massive manufacturers in the United States? Their answer is lowering the costs. Rather than using the traditional and very expensive space qualified components, Surrey Satellite Technology uses commercial of-the-shelf parts.

With their alternative methods, this UK company has managed to give a substitute to the American products for the UK and European space industry, and so far their exports are on the rise.

Source: Working Lunch, BBC. (26-01-2010)

UK Space Industry

Vauxhall / Opel Cutting Production

The UK car manufacturer Vauxhall with its European counterpart Opel are aiming to cut their car production by around one fifth following a long term fall in sales.

Vauxhall currently has 2 production plants including one in Luton. They have hinted to cutting 350 jobs in that particular plant. Meanwhile Opel are to close their plant at Antwerp in Belgium.

Source: Working Lunch, BBC. (21-01-2010)

Vauxhall / Opel Cutting Production