LG’s European Design Centre will house a multi-national team of 22 expert designers by 2009, from across Europe. The current team already includes British, Irish, Italian, French and German designers. They will design products for LG’s entire range of consumer goods including; mobile handsets and devices, flat-screen TV’s and audio systems, white-goods and other home electronics. It joins a global network of 6 Design Centres, which are part of a wider network including 29 Research and Development Centres. All together these Centres employ 16,000 staff – almost a fifth of LG’s global workforce.

“Our new European Design Centre has been established to provide our design team with the optimum creative environment, which includes extensive libraries and leading technologies to aid in the design process. There are significant cultural and technical differences between Europe and other markets. As a result, for LG to grow its market presence in Europe it must invest in and be sensitive to the consumer’s requirements, while responding to technical and cultural differences,” said Mr James Kim, president and CEO of LG Electronics Europe.

With assistance from Think London, LG chose London and the UK as its European hub due to the business and finance environment, as well as its global position. London is a culturally diverse city that is recognised across the world for its vibrancy, style and creativity. It is home to a large community of experienced designers with knowledge and genuine enthusiasm for consumer electronics, as well as a fertile ground for finding new talent thanks to world-renowned education and training programs.

Michael Charlton, chief executive at Think London, the foreign direct investment agency for London, said: “London has a long established reputation as a strong and innovative centre for design. More than half a million people in London work in the creative industries sector, making it the third largest sector of employment in the city. This combined with strong financial and business links makes it the ideal location for companies such as LG which are making long-term, significant investments in their design capabilities.”

LG’s Design Centre in Milan has now been closed but it was confirmed that all staff at this facility were given the opportunity of similar positions at the new European Centre.