- What do Nissan’s partnerships with Honda and Mitsubishi Corporation mean for Europe? Not a lot. - Honda and Nissan signing a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding on producing key components for electric vehicles and artificial intelligence in automotive software platforms is a further sign that Japanese car manufacturers are drawing their horns in and regrouping to focus on the Japanese domestic market. It is also further evidence that Nissan’s alliance with Renault...
- Mitsubishi Pencil acquires German pen maker Lamy - One of the unofficial jobs I had at Mitsubishi Corporation in the UK was to be the recipient of incoming calls from customers complaining about random products that the telephonist on reception could not find a department to forward to. One time it turned out to be someone who had bought Mitsuba golf clubs but...
- Sony Interactive Entertainment to cut jobs and studios in Europe and globally - Sony Group has announced that it will cut approximately 900 jobs, or 8% of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s workforce. The company will reduce the number of employees working at its game development studios in all regions of the world, including Europe, America, Japan, and the Asia-Pacific region. The layoffs affect a number of PlayStation studios, including...
- Yusen Logistics acquires UK Enterprise Carrier Management company Global Freight Solutions - Yusen Logistics, part of the NYK Group, has acquired Noel Topco, which in turn owns Global Freight Solutions, via its subsidiary International Logistics Group. Yusen Logistics acquired ILG in 2018 bringing in omnichannel fulfilment solutions for e-commerce brands, with operations in 13 bespoke facilities in the UK and EU. GFS adds to this “advanced multi-carrier...
- Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group to double UK underwriting - Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group acquired Amlin (now MS Amlin) in 2016 for £3.2bn but fell into the red since due to a series of natural disasters. The company has shed around 500 employees in the UK since, and now employs around 856 people. It also has operations in France, Singapore, Netherlands and Belgium. Its latest...
- Fast Retailing to expand in Europe - Fast Retailing, the owner of the Uniqlo brand, is intending to launch its sister brand GU in Europe. GU is pronounced ji-yuu, which means freedom in Japanese. It is aimed at the 10 to 30 year old age bracket, and is slightly cheaper than the Uniqlo brand. GU already opened a pop-up store in New...
- Japanese companies whose stock prices have increased by more than fortyfold since Japan’s stock market peak in 1989 – are they in Europe? - The Nikkei has just published a list of Japanese companies whose stock price increased tenfold or more over the past 34 years. Many are in advanced technology manufacturing, food, retail and digital services and with a few exceptions, their overseas expansion, if any, has not included Europe. Foreign investors were keen to support rapidly growing,...
- Top Japan owned UK companies for growth in 2023 - There are over 1,200 Japan-owned companies in the UK employing around 174,000 people. The number employed grew around 2% from 2022 to 2023.* The top 5 Japanese companies** that have grown the most in the UK 2022-2023 are: 1. Dentsu UK/Dentsu International Advertising and marketing giant Dentsu has two main subsidiaries in the UK –...
- Daikin acquires Robert Heath Heating - Daikin Industries has acquired British company Robert Heath Heating, which handles the installation and maintenance of residential heating systems. In Europe, Daikin is focusing on heat pump heating, which has high energy-saving performance. The company will expand its installation and after-sales service network in the UK in anticipation of a growing shift from combustion heating...
- Japan’s links to Glasgow - I was delighted to see that the train I took to travel from the south east of England, where I live, to Scotland, was a Hitachi Azuma. The journey was smooth and punctual, despite all the issues caused by the need for the trains to be bimodal (able to run on diesel), as the line...
Last updated by Pernille Rudlin at .