Data centre deal 'rests LG ghost'

The site is to be a communications link for websites and e-commerce

Business leaders in Newport say a £200m investment in the city's former LG site had laid to rest the "ghost" of the failed semi-conductor plant.

A company specialising in data storage is moving to the vacant building, creating 100 new jobs.

It has been empty since it was completed in 1998.

Jonathan Deacon, from Newport Business School, said: "That site has been stood vacant for 10 years - 10 years too long."

Investors behind the data centre project hope to have the plant operational by the end of the year, housing electronic hardware and communication links for running websites and e-commerce businesses.

The semi-conductor plant was created in 1998 with £131m of grants from public bodies in Wales, with the promise of thousands of jobs which never materialised.

Eventually £71m of this money was recovered but Newport has been hit by a number of closures since then, with the loss of 315 jobs when LG Electronics announced in August last year and more than 200 going at the Corus steel plant at Llanwern in May 2007.

However, the city is also undergoing a multimillion pound regeneration of its centre and surrounding area.

As part of its regeneration, new shops, restaurants, cafes and bars are planned as well as hundreds of new homes being built.

The city is undergoing its transformation as it prepares to host the 2010 Ryder Cup tournament.

Describing the New Generation Data Ltd announcement "as very good news indeed", Mr Deacon said: "At long last, we can put the ghost that is LG to bed.

"This is going to be a platform for other companies to come in.

'Reborn'

"It's spot on what we need, not only in the Newport area but in the conurbation that is Newport, Cardiff, and Bristol."

Patrick Long, Head of Newport and Gwent Chamber of Commerce, said the planned investment had left the city "reborn" after the "pain within Newport" caused by the LG failure.

He said: "This really takes Newport and Wales into the global market."

Mr Long said: "There're good vibrations here in the business community. There's a feel-good factor.

"I know we've got to be very careful with the supposed recession but there's not much talk of that here."

A spokesperson for the urban regeneration company Newport Unlimited said the data centre would "undoubtedly attract" complementary business to the area.

The spokesperson said: "West Newport is an integral part of the overall strategy for the regeneration of the city of Newport and the significant investment in the former Hynix semi conductor plant is an important milestone in Newport's development."