Former Tokyo envoy brings industrial giant to Maidenhead as EU hub
VISITING JAPAN
Looking to Europe and Beyond
Former Tokyo envoy brings industrial giant to Maidenhead as EU hub
Sir Stephen Gomersall KCMG is Hitachi ’ s director and group chairman for Europe .
By Julian Ryall
• Infrastructure , energy , IT , machinery
• Parent firm ’ s first foreign board director
• Employs 11,000 in Europe
From rail transport systems to thermal and nuclear power generation , construction machinery , enterprise-level data storage solutions and automotive components , Hitachi , Ltd . has become a major part of the British industrial scenery .
A good deal of the firm ’ s expansion plans , for the UK and beyond on the Continent , are the result of efforts made by Sir Stephen Gomersall KCMG . He first came to Japan in 1972 , as a language student of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office , and rose to serve as British ambassador to Japan for five years commencing in 1999 .
“ Hitachi has shifted from being a producer of consumer goods and highgrade components to becoming a major supplier of social infrastructure , nowhere more so than in the UK ”, Sir Stephen told BCCJ ACUMEN .
“ With our recent large investments in the transport and nuclear power sectors , we have committed to projects which will provide employment and work for the UK supply chain for decades .
“ We selected the UK as a hub , within the European Union , from which to extend our business into other European markets in future ”, he added .
Hitachi ’ s corporate headquarters are in Maidenhead , Berkshire , and the firm has about 2,000 employees throughout the UK at present . The number is projected to double as the firm builds new factories , rail depots and power stations .
Appointed Hitachi ’ s chief executive officer for Europe in October 2004 , Gomersall was responsible for creating and executing a growth strategy for the Hitachi Group ’ s 27 firms operating in Europe . In addition , he was in charge of building relationships with
20 | BCCJ ACUMEN | JUNE 2013