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Vince Cable comments on GKN/Volvo

05 July 2012 10:16

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Commenting on the acquisition of Volvo Aero by GKN plc, Business Secretary Vince Cable said:

"This is good news for the UK aerospace sector and I welcome the fact that a UK company has the confidence to pursue a takeover of this scale. This builds on the already impressive range of capabilities that GKN has.

"Our aerospace sector, which employs 100,000 people, is world class and through deals such as this continues to bolster its position as Europe's largest. It's particularly welcome coming just a few days ahead of the Farnborough International Airshow, where the world will come to the UK to see the strengths we have as a nation in this industry."

Notes to editors

1. The Government's economic policy objective is to achieve 'strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the country and between industries.' It set four ambitions in the ‘Plan for Growth’ (PDF 1.7MB), published at Budget 2011:

To create the most competitive tax system in the G20

  • To make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business
  • To encourage investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy
  • To create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe.

Work is underway across Government to achieve these ambitions, including progress on more than 250 measures as part of the Growth Review. Developing an Industrial Strategy gives new impetus to this work by providing businesses, investors and the public with more clarity about the long-term direction in which the Government wants the economy to travel.

2. BIS's online newsroom contains the latest press notices and speeches, as well as video and images for download. It also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom for more information.

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Adam Smith
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