Hope of new jobs after £20m deal with Japan
BIKE MAKER TO SUPPLY 1,000 MACHINES OVER FIVE YEARS
A MAJOR motorcycle manufacturer near Derby has secured a £20 million export deal to supply its machines to Japan.
Norton Motorcycles, which is based at Donington Hall, in Castle Donington, has said that the deal will involve about 1,000 motorbikes being sold to Japanese customers over the next five years.
And the company has said that the new agreement will support 200 jobs at the firm – with the potential for new roles as Norton increases its presence in the country.
The deal was announced by the Government to coincide with the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Downing Street this week.
Kay Johnson, head of global sales and marketing at Norton, said: “Norton have an agreement with our distributor, PCI Ltd, in Japan which will run over a five-year term to manufacture over 1,000 bikes.
“We very much look forward to growing our workforce to support the demand for motorbikes in this territory and, in doing so, continue to build a strong trading business with Japan.”
The Norton deal is one of a series of new agreements announced between companies in the UK and Japan, which collectively will help support hundreds of British jobs.
Other deals include a £47 million The distinctive Norton branding and (inset below) International Trade Secretary Liam Fox at the Donington Hall site in 2017
export win for toy shop chain Hamleys and an agreement that will allow British farmers to export beef and lamb to Japan for the first time since 1996.
With Britain’s future trading relationship with the rest of Europe remaining unclear as the UK prepares to exit the EU, efforts are being made to strengthen trading relationships with non-EU countries across the world.
In the past year, trade between the UK and Japan totalled more than £28 billion – an increase of five per cent on the year before.
All of the new deals have been welcomed by International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox.
He said: “The UK and Japan are among the strongest champions of free trade and an even closer relationship as we leave the European Union will help us to rally against the protectionist measures around the world that risk making us all poorer.
“That’s why today we have committed to reduce global trade tensions, reform global trading rules and bring a new UK-Japan free trade agreement into force as soon as possible.
“On top of this, we have announced more than £200 million worth of export and investment deals that will see Hamleys toy shop, Norton motorcycles and British farmers increasing their presence in Japan and supporting hundreds of jobs in both of our countries.”