Moghrey Mie Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Can anybody explain what goes on at the Freeport near Ronaldsways airport? You never seem to read anything about it. Is it one of those initiatives the IOM government started and then lost interest in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 It was started almost 30 years ago, to much trumpeting and fanfares, but AFAIK, not a lot happens there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=^..^= Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 It never took off despite being close to the airport. It was bought by Datacentre who turned it into a Business Continuity site. Its now owned and run by 2e2 - its still a DR site but they also do training there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uni Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 It is also FCX headquaters and info here: http://www.gov.im/dti/commercialDev/freeport.xml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 don't they make diamonds there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman8180 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 It never took off despite being close to the airport. It was bought by Datacentre who turned it into a Business Continuity site. Its now owned and run by 2e2 - its still a DR site but they also do training there. That's not strictly true. They have a facility there, but do not own the site. Essentially the Freeport is a mini 'duty free' oasis in the middle of the European Economic Area. Not duty free as you or I are used to, but IIRC, you don't pay duty on things brought into the freeport until they actually enter the final country of sale. That makes it advantageous for some high end manufacturing firms who can export high value components without paying duty at the time. It also means you could bulk buy goods, store them until a better market price is achievable and then sell them, only being liable for the duty at the time of sale, which also reduces insurance liabilities, as the goods are of a lesser value during storage. I think it has to be particularly high value items to make it worthwhile. Hence the link to Diamonds. I think if you buy from and then trade to any country outside the EEA, you can avoid duty all together, but that could be wrong. Netcetera are also based there. Again, if they don't have to pay duty on the very expensive equipment, it makes for significant savings. Plus the area is not subject to planning conditions - an interesting incentive for some! There is also a Bioscience firm As for 'not taking off' or 'lost interest in it' I think that is far from the case. don't they make diamonds there? Diamonds are a mineral, not man made Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ushtey Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Diamonds are a mineral, not man made Apart from man made diamonds of course (identical to naturally occurring diamonds at a molecular level) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ai_Droid Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Weird place, the 2e2 bit anyway. Sort of marble and leather stately style accomodation next to training rooms and comms rooms. That part of it is definately not used for the purpose it was originally designed, but still a good facility for the island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 There is a lot of potential for the freeport - but as most MHKs don't know their arrearage from their emolument - they don't realise it or seem to attempt to market it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Barclays have a building down there to act as back up in case one of their other sites is out of action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 don't they make diamonds there? Diamonds are a mineral, not man made They can be, just takes a bit of heat and pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dphix Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Indeed synthetic diamonds are grown in Element 6 formally known as Diamanx for diamond tipped tooling and the like, I used to work there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman8180 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 That's a bit like synthetic grass! You can call it grass, but it ain't grass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempus Fugit Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Barclays have a building down there to act as back up in case one of their other sites is out of action. is it a good idea putting next to a fuel dump though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontiuspilot Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 there are several companies down there. the site is leased to John Campbell from the government the companies include Element 6, a subsid of DeBeers the diamond people. Prometic, a biotechnology company, Callkey, a mobile phone company, a data recovery centre for Barclays bank, and a building rented by Datacentre. further more, there are at least two ways for man to make diamonds. and element 6 have made them by both compression and condensation techniques. the ones made there are usually not as high quality as natural diamonds and can be used as heat sinks in electronics. but small quantities of gem quality diamonds have been made there. it is impossible to tell the diference between gem quality man made diamonds and the natural ones. this has become a problem for the diamond industry. natural diamonds now have laser cut logos on them. this is to guarentee there subterrianean origin. why wait millions of years for a diamond to grow, when you can have one in a few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.