Ericsson is pulling out of its R&D facility at Ansty Park, jeopardising 700 jobs in the process, despite only moving in six months ago.

Seven hundred employees will be affected by the shutting down of the site, which is expected to be completed by the middle of next year - union negotiations not withstanding. Ericsson expects to abandon the site once the staff have gone, despite the first staff only having arrived in May.

The company says the cuts are part of its ongoing cost reduction strategy, which will see greater reuse of existing technology and thus needs less research and development. What R&D remains will be relocated to "lower cost-base countries".

Back in February, Ericsson's UK CTO stated: "We believe the accommodation at Ansty Park will lead to it becoming an important development centre", and providing a video showing how marvellous the site would be:

Back then, the prime minister even turned up and met with Ericsson to discuss the company's plan for the site, though closure within a year probably wasn't mentioned back then. ®

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