Siemens to repay grant after chip factory closure

Siemens has been ordered to repay the £18 million it received in central government aid to build a semiconductor plant on Tyneside. Trade and industry secretary Stephen Byers told Parliament that Siemens failed to meet conditions set out as part of the grant in 1997. Siemens announced the closure of the £1 billion chip factory at Wallsend with the loss of 1,100 jobs last July. It received a total of £60 million of grants for the factory, of which £25 million came from UK sources outside of central government.