Semiconductor manufacturer Diodes Incorporated has received a £13.7m funding package from Scottish Enterprise towards a £47m project enabling its future growth in Greenock, it was announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today.
In April last year USA-headquartered Diodes completed its acquisition of the former Texas Instruments business in the town, safeguarding all 300 jobs on site, in a deal facilitated by Scottish Development International (SDI), the Scottish Government and Inverclyde Council.
During today’s visit to the company’s wafer fabrication facility (GFAB), the First Minister saw first-hand the significant progress that has been achieved since, with substantial capital expenditure approved, new tools installed and the first new products shipped for qualification.
The funding package that has been agreed, consists of a £12m research and development (R&D) grant towards a five-year project to develop more technologically-advanced transistors enhancing the company’s already highly-competitive portfolio – and £1.7m towards a £3.4m training programme to enable employees to support this change. The company has also received £169,500 from Inverclyde Council to assist with development of the site.
Diodes has identified GFAB as being integral to its long-term growth objectives. The site has room to expand in development, manufacturing and test and – most critically – has an efficient and highly-skilled workforce of engineers, operators and support staff.
The First Minister said: “Almost £14 million from Scottish Enterprise will help Diodes advance their research, develop new processes and products and make their systems more efficient and effective.
“The Scottish Enterprise funding reinforces Inverclyde’s prominence as an important area for manufacturing and business. I applaud Diodes’ faith in its Greenock workforce. Scotland has an innovative and diverse manufacturing sector with companies successfully competing in international markets. Inverclyde has benefited from recent investment in Ferguson’s and through the Glasgow City Region Deal, projects including the new cruise ship visitor centre and gallery at Greenock Ocean Terminal.”
Tim Monaghan, Diodes’ European President said: “We were very pleased to welcome the First Minister to GFAB and to show her the advances that have been made since Diodes’ acquisition of the plant. GFAB has a long-standing and highly valued relationship with Scottish Enterprise and we look forward to this continuing.
“With Diodes’ expertise, the high calibre of the GFAB workforce, and support from Scottish Enterprise, I am excited by the opportunity we are creating to progress even further, building on our manufacturing capabilities to create a centre of process development excellence in GFAB.”
Steve Dunlop, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, said: “Following the positive announcement earlier this year that Diodes had acquired the business safeguarding these 300 jobs in Greenock, it’s great to see the company now planning for its long-term future in the town.
“By investing in its people and developing leading-edge technologies it will ensure it stays at the forefront of its industry as well as remaining an integral part of the local community. We look forward to working closely with the company as it continues on this growth journey.”
Inverclyde Council leader Councillor Stephen McCabe said: “Diodes’ continued success and investment in Greenock shows that high-quality jobs of high value to the Scottish economy are very much part of our business offer here in Inverclyde.
“This welcome investment from Scottish Enterprise and the council’s own contribution to support development at the site will make a real difference in further improvements and shows that when local and national government and the national agencies work together we can deliver. This is a perfect time for business to discover Inverclyde as a location for business growth and relocation to join and become part of our community with international names such as Diodes.”
Contact information:
Jennifer Stevenson
Scottish Enterprise
0141 468 5779
07919 227 836
jennifer.stevenson@scotent.co.uk
About Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise is Scotland's national economic development agency. We’re committed to growing the Scottish economy for the benefit of all, helping create more quality jobs and a brighter future for every region.
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About Diodes Incorporated
Diodes Incorporated (Nasdaq: DIOD), a Standard and Poor’s SmallCap 600 and Russell 3000 Index company, is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality application specific standard products within the broad discrete, logic, analog, and mixed-signal semiconductor markets. Diodes serves the consumer electronics, computing, communications, industrial, and automotive markets. Diodes’ products include diodes, rectifiers, transistors, MOSFETs, protection devices, function-specific arrays, single gate logic, amplifiers and comparators, Hall-effect and temperature sensors, power management devices, including LED drivers, AC-DC converters and controllers, DC-DC switching and linear voltage regulators, and voltage references along with special function devices, such as USB power switches, load switches, voltage supervisors, and motor controllers. Diodes also has timing, connectivity, switching, and signal integrity solutions for high-speed signals.
Diodes’ corporate headquarters and Americas’ sales office are located in Plano, Texas and Milpitas, California. Design, marketing, and engineering centers are located in Plano; Milpitas; Taipei, Taiwan; Taoyuan City, Taiwan; Zhubei City, Taiwan; Manchester, UK; and Neuhaus, Germany. Diodes’ wafer fabrication facilities are located in Manchester and Greenock, UK, and Shanghai, China. Diodes has assembly and test facilities located in Shanghai, Jinan, Chengdu, and Yangzhou, China, as well as in Hong Kong, Neuhaus, and Taipei. Additional engineering, sales, warehouse, and logistics offices are located in Taipei; Hong Kong; Manchester; Shanghai; Shenzhen, China; Seongnam-si, South Korea; Munich, Germany; and Tokyo, Japan, with support offices throughout the world. Further information is available at www.diodes.com.
