Europe

Product testing and safety specialist Intertek has announced the acquisition of technical services provider Moody International for £450 million.

Moody provides technical inspection and staffing services, consulting and training, and global management system certification to engineering, procurement & construction companies, energy companies and component manufacturers in the energy sector. The company has 2,500 employees in 60 countries.

Switzerland-based engineering and construction group Foster Wheeler has won a contract to carry out an availability and reliability study on the possible expansion of Abu Dhabi’s Zirku oil processing facilities.

Foster Wheeler was awarded the contract by Abu Dhabi-based oil company Zakum Development Co (Zadco), formed in order to develop the Upper Zakum oil field on behalf of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and other shareholders, namely ExxonMobil and the Japan Oil Development Company.

Dutch construction firm Ballast Nedam has agreed to take over a proportion of the activities of its bankrupt Dutch rival Heddes.

Nieuwegein-based Ballast Nedham will take on 16 projects, collectively worth around €100 million, as well as Heddes’ small-scale construction activities.

Heddes Bouw & Ontwikkeling’s 100 employees will continue to operate from the company’s head office in Hoorn.

Heddes filed for bankruptcy on 16 February, having suffered from the effects of the slowdown in the construction industry.

ESB International (ESBI) has been awarded a contract by NamPower to provide technical advisory services for the development of the 800 MW Kudu combined cycle power plant at Oranjemund on the Namibia / South Africa border.

The power plant will use gas from the Kudu Gas field to produce electricity for Namibia and the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). Increasing demand for electricity in Africa as economies in the region grow is continuing to put pressure on state utilities such as NamPower.

One of the most famous nautical names in the world offers a surprising mix of services, as Alan Swaby discovers.

There can’t be many ports which have an ancestry going back 2,000 years or which, at least these days, handles so little actual freight as Gibraltar. In many ways, it is unique—not just in terms of its location at the crossroads of the north-south and east-west shipping routes, but also in terms of its business mix.

Ford Motor Company announced today that its supply network is creating thousands of new jobs around the world to support the launch of the new Ford Focus.

Ford is using 310 suppliers in 22 countries to make parts for the new Focus, and many are adding jobs, facilities and equipment to meet demand for the vehicle. Suppliers have added 5,500 jobs at facilities in North America, Europe and Asia to produce parts for the new Focus.

Madrid-based pharmaceutical group Zeltia has reported strong results for the year ending 31 December 2010.

The group’s net revenues for 2010 totalled €153.5 million, a rise of 24.4 per cent from 2009, when revenues were €123.4 million. Zeltia said the increase was largely due to a 70 per cent growth in sales of Yondelis, Spain’s first anti-tumour drug.

At year-end, Yondelis had been approved for sale in 63 countries, 33 of which are outside the European Economic Area.

Northern Irish bus building company the Wright Group has announced it will supply 334 new vehicles to transport company Arriva in a deal worth £55 million.

The contract will see the Wright Group manufacture 204 double deckers and 130 single deckers, with production beginning this spring and delivery expected later in the year.

The Ballymena-based company said that 184 of the buses would be its Wrightbus Gemini 2 DL integral Double Deck model, and 20 would be the Eclipse Gemini 2 Double Deck buses, adding to Arriva’s existing hybrid fleet in London.

In 2010, Brussels saw the launch of the Viage Entertainment Center. Managing director Andrew Webb tells Andrew Pelis how the casino and entertainment venue has quickly established itself as a successful venture and benefactor to the local community.

Brussels has long been held up as a doyen for international business. While that remains the case, a recent splash of glamour has seen entertainment become en vogue with the arrival last year of the Viage Entertainment Center.