Eaton
Eaton was founded in the US in 1911 and is one of the world's leading manufacturers of electrical systems and components for power quality, distribution and control in the automotive and aerospace industries. Its European Shared Services Centre, based in Glasgow, provides financial and IT services to 19 countries, supporting $3.7 billion of sales. With headquarters in Cleveland and a Glasgow base since 1997 the company has 61,000 employees worldwide, 110 of them in Scotland.
Challenges faced by the company included the need for a workforce skilled in accountancy, IT and languages, a superior telecommunications infrastructure, and an attractive city centre location: all of which were met by Glasgow, on the West Coast of Scotland.
Eaton's European Shared Services Centre provides internal financial and IT support to sites in 19 countries, including Australia, the Middle East and Asia as well as Europe. The need for a wide spread of language abilities is paramount and staff at the Glasgow office are proficient in 14 different languages. 27% of the staff are foreign nationals and most members of staff speak more than one other language. One of the advantages of Glasgow is that its cosmopolitan nature attracts a lot of young people from abroad and Eaton have been able to tap into a wide range of language skills, including Spanish, Slovakian and Polish.
One of the key reasons for choosing Glasgow was the availability of high calibre staff in the fields of accountancy and IT as well as languages. The strengths of Glasgow and Edinburgh in terms of financial services and IT means that there is a healthy labour pool. As Eaton's strategy for growth is to move up the value chain, increasing automation to free up employees to take on more skilled jobs, there is no prerogative to move the business elsewhere and Eaton's presence in Glasgow is assured.
London, Dublin and Amsterdam were all considered as possible locations for Eaton's SSC and were all strong contenders. However, three factors put Glasgow ahead:
- Easier to recruit and retain the right level of staff
- A good provision of graduates, especially with language skills
- The availability of grants from government agencies
The company's auditors Ernst & Young were involved in Eaton's decision to locate in Glasgow and they helped secure office accommodation that is absolutely right for Eaton's needs – housing all its staff in one location, plus accommodating an IT room and generator in the basement.
How Scottish Development International helped
Scottish Development International and Scottish Enterprise were very much involved with Eaton locating to Glasgow. Scottish Enterprise's Business Location Service helped find suitable city centre office accommodation. Eaton also received a Regional Selective Assistance grant to help with initial location and recruitment. Since 2005 Scottish Enterprise have helped source and fund management training from the Institute of Leadership and Management. In addition, Scottish Enterprise has helped with brand recognition by promoting achievements in business publications. They have also introduced Eaton to the Scottish Shared Services Forum, where insights into best practice are shared.
Lessons learned
A key lesson that Eaton has learned is that the choice of Glasgow and Scotland was on target for appealing to foreign nationals. Scotland is seen as a land of opportunity with the additional benefits of friendly people and lots to offer on the leisure and cultural fronts. Monika Bresler, a Polish employee working at Eaton, says: "Working conditions in Scotland are attractive in comparison with my home country, especially for graduates and individuals seeking challenges. At present I am doing a law degree that my company is funding and I'm able to combine that with my other work. Scottish people are very friendly and I have never felt like a stranger here."