Inmos International Ltd managers were reportedly opposed to the idea of a Plessey takeover of the compani on the grounds that Plessey would want to close its pilot line in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and bring the work done there back home to the UK. So it is ironic that Inmos’ present parent, Thorn EMI Plc yesterday announced that it was going to do just that. Describing the move as the last in a series of measures taken over the past two years to restructure the company, Thorn pointed out that Transputers and Transputer-related parts already account for over 50% of turnover and are expected to account for 70% to 80% by 1989. As a result, although it remains committed to the next generation of process technology for static RAMs, development and design of which has just been completed in Colorado Springs, that side of the business is not adequately profitable and further costs must be cut. It is therefore bringing the work back home to Newport, and closing the pilot plant in Colorado Springs at the cost of 300 jobs. The costs were taken in last year’s accounts. Process and product development will now be done in the UK, where a technological breakthrough means that future capital requirement for manufacturing has been greatly reduced according to Inmos. Inmos will retain a US-wide sales organisation, customer support, and a test operation in Colorado Springs for its MilSpec customers.
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