Nevertheless, Siemens has a proud history of manufacturing in the UK. Today we employ around 6,000 people in the manufacturing sector.

At our production facility in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, we design and manufacture the superconducting magnets for all Siemens magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners worldwide.

In Congleton, Cheshire, we produce the variable speed drives that control the speed of motors driving production lines and baggage-handling systems for export around the world.

In Poole, Siemens Mobility and Logistics, Traffic Solutions has triumphed at the Best Factory Awards organised by Cranfield School of Management in partnership with the magazine Works Management. The Poole-based facility was recognised as the Toyota Material Handling Factory of the Year 2010 out of hundreds of UK manufacturing plants.

Elsewhere, our factory in Lincoln manufactures industrial gas turbines and automotive components are assembled in Birmingham and Telford.

In the last business year, we exported more than £800 million worth of goods - over 19 per cent of our overall UK turnover.