She goes on to say that she always thought hygiene in British restaurants was not great, so she had already been disinfecting things with wipes and then when she saw what was happening in China, insisted on wiping clean crayons, tables at a children's party, at a cinema. 2/3
She says that there is no custom of washing hands before eating in Europe/UK (not strictly true, but perhaps not as enforced as it used to be?) Then Johnson made his speech, and British stopped joking and calling her neurotic. 3/3
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A reminder that if Hitachi's plans for Horizon Nuclear Power - to redevelop the nuclear power plants at Wylfa and Gloucester in the UK - had gone ahead, they were meant to be producing energy by the mid 2020s. Which would have been handy. 1/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon_N…
So what went wrong? Hitachi took over the project from E.ON + RWE Npower in 2012. Site prep was to begin in 2015 + building the new plants in 2018. This was delayed until Generic Design Assessments were completed by the Environment Agency (which wasn't until 2017). 2/
In January 2016, Mr Nakanishi, chairman of Hitachi, expressed his concerns over the financing of the scheme to Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary, in particular what guarantees could be made on final pricing. Hitachi felt government funding, not full private funding was needed. 3/
This Ian Botham trade envoy thing is really getting to me + the reason for it isn't because it seems 1 of the criteria for selection was being pro Brexit. It's because it trivialises business. Apparently the appointment isn't even to impress the Australians (as if). 1/6
Although it would be quite funny if Australia sent Shane Warne to the UK in retaliation to sell us woolly jumpers. According to @FT today the expectation is that Botham's appointment will encourage 🇬🇧 businesses to look more seriously at Australia as an export destination. 2/6
I ❤️ cricket, have fond memories of watching Botham play as a child, but have no interest in being on a trade mission to Australia + in a confined space with him for any length of time especially after having read this 3/6
Thoughts on the Envision/Nissan news for Sunderland. Of course it’s good news. Should we never have worried then, was it just Project Fear? Well Nissan themselves threatened several times they would leave the UK because of Brexit. 1/7
I still think there’s a fight going on between Nissan + Renault for taking the lead on EV in their alliance in Europe. Envision announced on Monday €2bn investment in battery plant in France to supply Renault, to reach 9GWh by 2024, 24GWh by 2030. 2/7 asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Elec…
Whereas Envision investment for Sunderland plant is £450m, to reach 9GWh (=100,000 cars) then “if demand for Nissan’s EVs rises sharply” it may invest further £1.8bn to expand capacity to 25GWh. 3/7 ft.com/content/0e07f6…
Honda global restructuring/Swindon closure/Brexit impact beginning to feed through to annual results of Japanese companies in UK. Honda R&D Europe UK sold off its F1 unit to Honda Racing Development UK, up to 64 employees transferred but seems at least 28 still lost jobs. 1/4
Honda R&D moved offices from Swindon to closer to London, will focus on electric, autonomous vehicle development. Turnover down from £56m to £11.4m. 2/4
TS Tech, Honda supplier, confirms will cease trading in July 2021. 509 jobs lost. Factory in Hungary, supplying JLR, will become operational Dec 2021. Brexit caused supply chain issues, delays, ⏫ costs due to switching to air freight. Turnover down 30% year to Mar 2020. 3/4
Japanese companies in the UK who have moved their product distribution hub to the EU in anticipation of what is now happening. One in a long thread, just to make a point that *some* companies have been preparing for worst case Brexit for years 1/13
Allegro MicroSystems Europe, semiconductors and ICs, owned by Sanken Denki, now importing into EU via Netherlands rather than UK. Amano Enzyme Europe transferred EU stock to warehouse in EU 2/13
Anritsu EMEA (sales and service of testing and measuring solutions to communications industry) all EU deliveries now go to second transport hub in Netherlands. Audio Technica established European Distribution Centre in Netherlands for Brexit (bit of a 🇳🇱theme here) 3/13
On this day, 20 years' ago, the first Japanese company to invest in Wales -Takiron - announced it would close the factory it had set up in 1972 to manufacture PVC corrugated sheeting in Bedwas, Gwent. 1/6 news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/110…
By 1991 it had 68 employees but from the mid 1990s it began to lose money + had shrunk to 57 by 2001. Takiron blamed the strong £ + continued high price of raw materials for its difficulties. 60% of its production was exported to Europe + USA 2/6 rudlinconsulting.com/takiron-first-…
The plant was supposed to be taken over by a manufacturer of roller doors in 2006 but was still empty in 2007, when it became the venue for the "biggest rave in South Wales." 3/6 walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-new…