Diodes completed its acquisition of the former Texas Instruments business in the town last year, in a move that safeguarded all 300 jobs on site and that was facilitated by Scottish Development International (SDI), the Scottish Government and Inverclyde Council.
The funding package that has been agreed, consists of a £12m research and development (R&D) grant towards a five-year project to develop more technologically-advanced transistors enhancing the company’s already highly-competitive portfolio – and £1.7m towards a £3.4m training programme to enable employees to support this change. The company has also received £169,500 from Inverclyde Council to assist with development of the site.
Diodes has identified the wafer fabrication facility (GFAB) as being integral to its long-term growth objectives. The site has room to expand in development, manufacturing and test and – most critically – has an efficient and highly-skilled workforce of engineers, operators and support staff.
Commenting Tim Monaghan, Diodes’ European President said: “With Diodes’ expertise, the high calibre of the GFAB workforce, and support from Scottish Enterprise, I am excited by the opportunity we are creating to progress even further, building on our manufacturing capabilities to create a centre of process development excellence in GFAB.”
Steve Dunlop, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, said: “Following the positive announcement last year that Diodes had acquired the business safeguarding these 300 jobs in Greenock, it’s great to see the company now planning for its long-term future in the town.