Fujitsu Case Study
The potential of a growing market for ICT in Wales, and in particular for business processing in the public sector, was the attraction to Fujitsu Services of setting up an operation in the country.
Business Development Manager Alan Pound confirmed that South Wales continued to be a location in which the company saw conditions remaining positive for ongoing investment.
“Some costs are lower, such as salaries and we have little turnover of staff which, with the levels of expertise to which we train our people, is particularly important, and certainly, we see this part of the world as one in which future investments are planned,” he said.
When it comes to investing around the world in IT capability, there are few companies with the experience of Fujitsu.
One of the largest global brands, with 160,000 employees worldwide, it’s a safe bet that they are only going to set up their operations in business environments which make sense – as they obviously do in South Wales.
Through its European subsidiary, Fujitsu Services, the company has been represented in three locations in the region since 2003, making significant investments with more planned.
Fujitsu Services designs, develops, deploys and manages IT systems, has a £2bn turnover and 19,000 employees in the UK and Europe - 1,000 of them in Wales.
A leading supplier to the public sector in the UK, its advance into Wales began when Fujitsu Services was subcontracted to IBM at DVLA in Swansea, running the technology end of the Agency’s IT operations, a job which involves 300 people on site. After clocking up five years’ service there, it is still looking to expand its role.
Fujitsu Services also runs a centre of excellence for software engineering in Cardiff, known as the SOA (Services Orientated Architecture) European Centre, which develops Plug and Play off the shelf packages for basic applications such as payroll.
The company’s third centre is in Newport where it operates a major helpdesk for banks, major high street retailers and service providers such as Virgin Media.
With the start of a recent contract with the Office of National Statistics, also based out of Newport, it’s clear that on an inspection on brand names alone, Fujitsu is at the top of its game – a game in which South Wales, with its people and business infrastructure is well able to play a part.
