The Citizen Watch Co’s first printer manufacturing plant outside Japan is to be in Scunthorpe, Humberside, and will employ around 300 people when it reaches full capacity of 30,000 units per month in late 1988, the company announced yesterday. Approximately UKP6m is being invested, part-funded by a Department of Trade and Industry grant. The factory, which will produce dot matrix, daisy wheel and laser printers, is to be built on the campus of the North Lindsay College of Technology, and there is space to expand by 100% if necessary. While it waits for the new plant to be completed, Citizen will occupy a temporary facility where it hopes to be employing 100 by October, turning out what it claims is the fastest selling printer of its type in Europe, the Citizen 120D dot matrix printer, and one other model, at a rate of 500 units a day. Agreement has nearly been reached with several European companies to supply components for the printers but Citizen aims to get the majority of their raw materials and components locally by the end of 1988. A new company, Citizen Manufacturing (UK) Ltd, has been set up to manage the venture, which is owned 80% by Citizen Watch Co, 20% by Citizen Europe. The latter, also pushing a slimline 1 high 3.5 floppy drive for portable computers, reached UKP20m turnover in the last financial year and was not profitable. It looks to do UKP50m this year with profits of some UKP5m. Citizen says it is fourth in printers in the Eu- ropean market, with 8%, and hopes for 10% this year; Epson has 22%.
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