East of England - Economy - East Anglia

East Anglia

The economy in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk is traditionally mostly agricultural. Norfolk is the UK's biggest producer of potatoes. Nationally known companies include the RAC, Archant (publishing), Virgin Money and Aviva (formerly Norwich Union) in Norwich. In Carrow, to the east of the city, Colman's make a wide range of mustards, and Britvic make Robinsons squash, which was owned by Colman's until 1995. Across the River Yare near the A47/A146 junction in Trowse with Newton is May Gurney, the construction company. Bernard Matthews Farms have a large turkey farm on the former RAF Attlebridge in Weston Longville. Campbell Soup was made in Kings Lynn until 2008, and on the Hardwick Industrial Estate at the A47/A149 junction are PinguinLutosa UK, who pack frozen vegetables, and Caithness Crystal. Foster Refrigerator is the UK's leading manufacturer of commercial refrigerators and blast chillers, owned by Illinois Tool Works, based on the industrial estate, with Multitone Electronics, who have a manufacturing plant there, and who invented the pager in 1956, for St Thomas' Hospital, and Snap-on Diagnostics make diagnostic tools for garages. Linda McCartney sausages are made by Hain Celestial Frozen Foods at Fakenham, where Kinnerton Confectionery produces around 6000 tonnes of chocolate each year, which is mostly private label (supermarket) products. British Sugar's Wissington is the world's largest sugar beet factory in Methwold, on the B1160 near the River Wissey. Lotus Cars and Team Lotus are on the eastern edge of the former RAF Hethel, east of Wymondham (A11) at Hethel (Bracon Ash). Jeyes Group make household chemicals in Thetford, off the A134; Multiyork make furniture and Baxter Healthcare have a manufacturing plant in the south of the town. Aunt Bessie vegetable products (roast potatoes) are made by Heinz UK at Westwick, in a factory built by Ross Group.

Around Cambridge on numerous science parks, are high technology (electronics and biochemistry) companies, such as ARM Holdings on Peterhouse Technology Park in the south-east of the town, Adder Technology (KVM switches) at Bar Hill at the A14/B1050 junction north of the town, Monsanto UK, Play.com on the Cambridge Business Centre. The Wellcome Trust Genome Campus has the European Bioinformatics Institute at Hinxton east of Duxford near the M11 spur for the A11. These form the so-called Silicon Fen. Marshall Aerospace is at Cambridge Airport on the A1303 in the east of the town, towards Teversham. South of the airport, Carl Zeiss NTS make scanning electron microscopes in Cherry Hinton. Syngenta UK is to the east of Cambridge, on Capital Park at Fulbourn. Premier Foods have a large plant in Histon and Impington making Robertson's and Hartley's jam, Gale's honey, Smash instant potato, and Rose's marmalade. Addenbrooke's Hospital is a pioneering hospital in the UK, based at Cambridge Bio-Medical Campus. On the Cambridge Science Park (in Milton), the first science park in Europe (when founded in 1970 by Trinity College), near the junction of the A14 and A10 (A1309) and on the western side of the A1309 in South Cambridgeshire, are WorldPay (payment service provider), Jagex Games Studio (RuneScape), the European HQ of Accelrys, Cambridge Consultants, Astex (biotechnology), Kodak's European R&D centre, and Broadcom UK. On Cambridge Business Park, on the eastern side of the A1309 (former A10) and inside the district of Cambridge, are Autonomy Corporation, an FTSE-100 company, Red Gate Software, CSR plc, and NEC Unified Solutions UK (unified communications). On the 200-acre Granta Park at Great Abington near the A1307/A11 junction south of Cambridge are MedImmune (former Cambridge Antibody Technology, now owned by AstraZeneca) who research antibodies. The Welding Institute, Pfizer Regenerative Medicine, Gilead Sciences and PPD are nearby. The science park has its own cricket pitch.

Cambridgeshire has a few RAF bases. Subway UK (restaurants) is in Great Shelford. Unwins Seeds is in Alconbury Weston next to the A1. Avanquest UK, the home software company who bought EMME (who bought GSP in 2000) in 2007, is in St Ives, off the A1096. Nestlé Purina PetCare make petfood at its South Brink factory in Wisbech, with another in Sudbury, Suffolk. Princes (formerly owned by Premier Foods before February 2011) can vegetables and baked beans, and make Loyd Grossman cooking sauces in the town. Lamb Weston (potato products) are on the Weasanham Lane Ind Estate in the south of Wisbech, and next door Del Monte can fruit. On the Middle Level Main Drain at Marshland St James, south of Wisbech, Herbert Engineering are Britain's main producer of potato graders. The main water company for the area, AWG plc and International Audio Group are based in Huntingdon. JDR Cable Systems make underwater cables at the A10/A1101 roundabout at Littleport. McCain Foods have a factory (which was the largest frozen food factory in the world when it opened in 1976, processing 200,000 tonnes of potatoes annually) on the A605 and railway, near London Brick, at Whittlesey, towards Peterborough.

RAF Wittering was the home of the Harrier from August 1969 until December 2010, and now houses Army personnel, along with the RAF Regiment. British Sugar, Silver Spoon and the Billington Food Group are based near each other in Peterborough, as is Perkins Engines (diesel engines). News International have a main office there and Indesit (owner of Hotpoint, previously owned by GEC before 2007) have their UK headquarters in Woodston. Next door is Applied Energy Products (part of Glen Dimplex), which owns Redring, Credair and Xpelair. The N&P Building Society (since November 2011 part of the Yorkshire Building Society) is in Orton Northgate. Bauer Radio and Bauer Consumer Media (former EMAP Consumer Media) are headquartered on Lincoln Road. EMAP have their magazine headquarters off the A605 in Orton Wistow, and BGL Group (Compare The Market) is in Orton Southgate next to the Peterborough services. Ronart Cars and Radical Sportscars develop sports cars at Westwood. Baker Perkins makes food processing equipment next to the Paston Parkway (A15) in Gunthorpe.

The USAF still have bases in Suffolk. Johnsons and Mr Fothergill's make seeds in Kentford, off the A14. In Newmarket is the base of the British horse racing industry and the National Horseracing Museum. CLAAS UK, is based on the side of the A14 just west of Bury St Edmunds at The Saxhams, Zetor Tractors UK is in Downham Market, and New Holland UK (and also the UK base of Fiat-owned CNH Global) is in Basildon where there is a large tractor factory. The RAF Regiment is based at RAF Honington, between the A1088 and A134, south of Thetford, partly in Fakenham Magna. The 100th Air Refueling Wing, which flies the KC-135 is at RAF Mildenhall. Silverline are a main maker of steel office furniture (filing cabinets and tambour desks) in Mildenhall, next to airfield. Greene King and Branston Pickle are in Bury St Edmunds, and British Sugar make all their icing sugar and caster sugar there. Helmsman is the UK's leading manufacturer of changing room cubicles and lockers, based on the A1101 at Fornham All Saints, north of Bury St Edmunds. Vinten make camera supports next to the A14, and are part of the Vitec Group. BT Research have had their main labs at Adastral Park near Martlesham Heath, off the A12, since 1975. This site now claims to be the largest software development centre in Europe. Essfoods are based at Rendlesham Hall off the A1152, near the former RAF Bentwaters. BOCM Pauls is in Wherstead just south of Ipswich. Ransomes Jacobsen (part of Textron) make sit-down lawn mowers on the Ransomes Europark near the A14/A1189 junction. The Port of Felixstowe is the UK's busiest container terminal and the 28th busiest in the world. Birds Eye, now no longer part of Unilever, now has its main factories in Lowestoft near Ness Point, and LEC Marine who make switchboards. SLP Engineering who make gas platforms for the North Sea. Adnams Brewery is on the Suffolk coast at Southwold. The electricity supplier Haven Power is based in Ipswich. Thompson and Morgan make seeds, west of Ipswich just off the A14 at Sproughton. Becker Acroma (part of Sherwin-Williams) make wood finishes off the A1017 in Haverhill, and on the same industrial estate IFF make fragrances, and Marchant Manufacturing make polythene (retail) bags.