Tiny's relocation plans will create hundreds of jobs in Scotland

Britain's biggest computer supplier, Tiny Computers, will today reveal plans to create hundreds of jobs and open a factory on the West Coast of Scotland.

As the rest of Britain's manufacturing industry wallows into recession, Tiny's decision to relocate its manufacturing operations from Asia to Scotland will come as a relief to the Scottish Executive.

Tiny, which will announce the full details of its relocation plans this morning, is understood to have chosen a site near Prestwick. The plant is intended to supply computers to the UK market, with production of computers for overseas markets remaining in Hong Kong.

Danny Carrigan, national electronics officer for the AEEU engineering union, said: "Clearly, this is good news for the beleaguered Scottish economy and, in particular, the high-tech sector. The Scottish electronics industry has lost 8,000 jobs in the last 12 month so anything which brings new employment is excellent news. This could mean we are turning the corner at last."

The move represents a reversal of fortunes for Scotland's manufacturing sector, which has been hit by a string of companies axing jobs. Motorola, the mobile phone maker, shed over 3,000 manufacturing jobs at Bathgate, while earlier this month NEC, the Japanese electronics group, announced plans to axe 600 workers at its Livingston factory in West Lothian. Compaq, the computer manufacturer, also cut 700 jobs at its Erskine plant.

A spokesman for the Scottish executive said no government money was being made available to Tiny in the form of Regional Selective Assistance.

Tiny employs over 1,000 people in Britain and 2,000 worldwide. It has more than 250 showrooms, spanning Europe, the US and Asia. Last year, it sold more than 400,000 PCs in the UK, up from 350,000 in 1999. Its annual turnover for 2000 was £339m.