Tiny shifts PC manufacturing to Scotland

Tiny Computers is to pull its manufacturing facilities from China and shift them to Scotland.

The UK outfit has started trialling a plant in Prestwick, near Glasgow, which will be able to pump out up to 3,500 computers a day for the British market.

Tiny said today it had signed a five-year deal worth £200 million with contractors Fullarton Computer Industries - which also manufactures for Compaq.

Tiny's first PCs will start rolling off the Scottish production lines at the end of August, and it expects to be producing around 1,300 PCs per day within a couple of months.

According to a Tiny representative, it is cheaper for the company to produce PCs in Scotland than in China. This is due to the freight costs involved in shipping goods over to Britain.

Tiny reckons the move will let it react to market changes a lot quicker and is promising to drop its PC prices in the UK.

It is also looking into ways to bring its notebook production over to the Prestwick plant. Tiny's notebook manufacturing is based in the Far East and makes up about ten per cent of its overall revenues.

"This decision by Tiny should send out a clear message to the global IT industry that the UK has the skilled people and infrastructure necessary to maintain and grow high technology operations," said Minister for E-Commerce and Competitiveness Douglas Alexander.

Manufacturing for Tiny's US operation, which has shut several stores recently, is to be kept in the Far East.

The statement by Tiny, which has been manufacturing in the Far East for ten years, came less than a week after US computer giant Gateway announced its intention to shut operations in Ireland and the UK in the face of plummeting sales in Europe. ®

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