Jobs Boost

Ford has announced that it will be creating hundreds of new jobs at its engine plants in Dagenham. The East London site recently announced that production was up by 24% and Ford now expects to make two million engines a year in the UK by 2009. Dagenham currently manufactures diesel engines for Ford, Jaguar and Land Rover, and will start building new 1.4- and 1.6-litre units in the next few months. Around 250 new jobs have already been created at the Dagenham plant as part of an ongoing recruitment drive.

Thames Gateway London's offer for bioscience companies received a boost recently, with the news that up to 300 professionals are expected to be attracted to a £28m centre housing high technology companies. Queen Mary, University of London's Biosciences Innovation Centre, New Road, Whitechapel, has received the go-ahead from Tower Hamlets Council. Work is due to start later this year, with completion in late 2008. The state-of-the-art complex, next to Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, will provide around 40,000 sq ft of labs and offices for Life Sciences firms, including start-up companies from Queen Mary.  A Queen Mary spokeswoman said the centre expected to "contribute to the employment'' of up to 300 skilled professionals and would support another 60-80 jobs in the community, from minicab services to restaurants.  For more on this story, see our Innovation section.