Bosch Thermotechnology plans to move its Worcester head office and factory to a bigger site in response to expected rising demand in the UK for energy efficient heat technologies.
The European giant has submitted an outline planning application for a new UK factory and HQ to replace its existing
Worcester Bosch site, which employs 1,560 people and makes boilers and other heating technologies.
Peter Fouquet, president of Robert Bosch Ltd, said its UK plans for a new site near Worcester were at an early stage. 'Timescales for construction work at this time have not been set, however as a local company based in Worcester for almost 50 years, Bosch Thermotechnology remain committed to the long term development of the company within Worcester', said Fouquet.
Speaking on June 8, the president said he expects significant UK growth for 2010. The Bosch Group in the UK made a strong start to 2010 and is confident of further growth to recover from the decline in sales experienced in 2009. The 2009 Bosch Group UK sales fell to 1.64 billion Euros compared to 2.02 billion Euros year on year - representing a 19% fall. The number of Bosch staff in the UK fell by 14% from 5,429 to 4,769.
Fouquet said environmental innovations have played a pivotal role in helping Bosch weather the recession in the UK. Despite the economic downturn, Bosch invested 3.6 billion Euros worldwide into R&D last year, filing over 3,800 patents. This investment was made in areas such as Thermotechnology, where Bosch produces efficient heating and hot water products. Fouquet said he was optimistic about future growth in the UK, spurred on by UK government implementation of renewable heating incentives such as the Feed-In-Tariff scheme and boiler scrappage scheme.
Fouquet said:'Our subsidiary Worcester Bosch is the leading supplier of energy efficient boilers and renewable technologies such as solar panels and ground-source heat pumps. Bosch was the first supplier to provide a boiler to one of the 125,000 homeowners who were approved for the UK government's boiler scrappage scheme, which encouraged consumers to trade in inefficient boilers for highly efficient new models'.
The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its more than 300 subsidiaries in more than 60 countries. Bosch has been active in the UK since 1898 when Robert Bosch opened his first subsidiary outside Germany in London.