Tony Blair spoke to BBC Radio Berkshire's Andrew Peach. Andrew Peach: We know that thousands of Eastern European migrants are arriving in Reading, Basingstoke, and Slough. Is that a good thing?
Tony Blair:"It's inevitable when you enlarge the European Union. What we've got to do is make sure that in Slough, and in Reading, the local authorities have the resources they need to cope with additional people. We're trying to make the money available for them to handle that situation.
"We went through this with Spain and Portugal some years previously, and in the end it works its way through. With this enlargement come huge job opportunities for us because those countries expand their trade, their economy, and we improve our own economic growth."
Andrew Peach:Slough borough council are pretty cross with you - they say you've under-funded them to the tune of £15,000,000. Why haven't you come up with some of this money? Tony Blair:"We've come up with quite a lot of money but we're in discussion with Slough. There's huge investment in the school system and NHS in Slough and Reading, and we need to keep the economy strong there.
"But Slough, in particular, is keen for us to support them more - there's been quite a lot of cash already but we'll see what more we can do."
Andrew Peach:You're a supporter of the voluntary sector and it's thriving in this area. But many smaller charities are being forced to close down because funding is drying up. What do you make of that? Tony Blair:"The reasons are various why funding can dry up. There's a lot of misunderstanding about the Lottery and the Olympics - no money will be transferred from them prior to 2009. It's not often our decision as to whether funding continues or not.
"We want the voluntary sector to play a bigger role, for example helping people with addiction problems, and in the spending review this year we'll look at giving them longer-term funding.
"The most common complaint from these organisations is they want greater certainty of funding, and that's what we'll look at trying to do."
Andrew Peach:We've been featuring a story about a couple called Richard and Fiona. Fiona's 16 and seven months pregnant. They've come to Reading and they're living in a tent in a car park. There's a red tape battle between the council here and in the north east. Should someone just get on and put these people in a house? Tony Blair:"If she's seven months pregnant she shouldn't be living in a tent. Someone should take responsibility."
Andrew Peach:The cost of living is expensive round here. You said you'd try to do something about that in your second term of office. What have you done? Tony Blair:"We've kept the economy strong. Of course house prices continue to go up because interest rates are historically low, but we're also developing more land for building homes and trying to make sure they're on brownfield sites.
"That can be controversial because people don't necessarily like those developments coming but that's what you've got to do. We're also introducing more shared equity schemes."
Andrew Peach:And Reading against your team, Newcastle, on Monday - who's going to win? Tony Blair:"That's a really unfair question to ask a Newcastle supporter!
"Reading have done a fantastic job and Steve Coppell's been a great manager. I'm afraid you guys are a bit higher up the table than us but I can't ditch a lifetime commitment to Newcastle United just because of the local elections..."
Excerpts from Rajesh Sinha's interview UK, 8:45 am
Fulcrum Logic needs no introduction anymore… The tremendous media coverage gained in the past one month has not only leveraged Fulcrum Logic’s position and status in the UK IT Industry but has also leveraged its true potential in terms of awareness and global delivery capabilities across the globe.
Since the recent seminar of the Global Business Brands at the TVEP at Slough, Thames Valley, Fulcrum Logic has been continuously making headlines in the UK IT and business scenario. CEO, Rajesh Sinha was also invited as a guest speaker in Silicon Valley, California to address CEO’s to share the key factors of Fulcrum Logic’s rapid growth.
The recent event of BBC radio show has changed the positioning of Fulcrum Logic as a global company in the IT services global market. Fulcrum Logic CEO, Rajesh Sinha, was invited as a talk show guest on ‘BBC Radio Berkshire’ to talk about the strategic location decisions involved in moving to the Thames Valley, UK. Among those on the show were British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Founder and CEO of Fulcrum Logic - Rajesh Sinha, Mohan Koo, CEO – Dtex Systems an Australian based company and Paul Britton, Investment Service Manager, Thames Valley Economic Partnership (TVEP).
The talk show with Fulcrum Logic CEO Rajesh on the 26th of April ’07 focused on the successful companies that have relocated to the Thames Valley in the past one year. Talk show host - Andrew Peach was in conversation with Rajesh Sinha on BBC Radio Berkshire where Rajesh shared his location strategy from New Jersey, USA.
Here are some excerpts from the CEOs’ interview on BBC Radio Berkshire.
Andrew Peach: Why do you want to relocate you Business to Reading? Give us a sense of why you want to do business in Reading?
Rajesh Sinha: “Being a software company we have been serving customers in New York and New Jersey, where New York is the hub for financial firms and New Jersey is the hub for pharmaceutical an manufacturing companies. So, we have grown in this particular area and this is where our Global Headquarters is located. We have taken the technology benefit of the Silicon Valley in California and have combined the technology from the west coast and the product requirements from the east coast, taken this experience to the Thames Valley in UK where TVEP has helped us in setting up our center which has given us a great platform to grow. The advantage we have seen in the Thames Valley is that, in the US we have a 5 hour flight distance between the east and west coasts, whereas in the UK, Thames Valley, the technology companies in the Thames Valley and business users located in London, has helped bridge the gap and has given a leading advantage of today’s business challenge.”
Andrew Peach: Finally, why Reading in the Thames Valley? Rajesh Sinha: “We provide IT services to our prime customer in the USA, so, when they have a requirement in the UK, they wanted us to service them in the UK as well.”
Later the discussion continued about Reading development and government focus on advancing the region.
