Samsung consolidates its offices

Korean giant Samsung has announced the closure of its offices in London, New York and Singapore as a result of continuing financial problems in the Far East.

According to a company statement, some staff from the regional offices would be returning to work at Samsung HQ in Seoul.

The company announced two weeks ago that it was cutting overseas production by 40 per cent in an attempt to cut borrowing and expenditure of foreign currency in response to IMF demands. In November, it cancelled a planned #450 million investment in a plant in Teeside.

Ali Demin, marketing director at Samsung Electronics Europe, said the Samsung Group's centre for European operations in Brentford, London, was to close. 'Our Brentford office has a lot of ex-patriates and it is cheaper to have these operations in Korea than in the UK or elsewhere.'

He added that the Brentford office included non-Korean marketing staff who would also move. 'Samsung Group's affected areas are in car manufacturing, heavy industry and finance, and so it has nothing to do with Samsung Electronics at all,' he said.

Markets in Korea surged 6.6 per cent on 19 January after rumours that billionaire financier George Soros was considering investing in Korea and that UK banks were to extend short-term loans.