Microsoft Moves On Cambridge

Plans for a research group to be sited in Cambridge by Microsoft, the worlds biggest computer software company, are already at an advanced stage, according to people in the industry.

The company, founded by Bill Gates, is already recruiting staff for what will be its first research centre outside the US. It is likely to have established a presence in Cambridge within the next two to three months.

The foundation of the research group is to be announced within the next few weeks, followed by details of collaboration between the company and Cambridge University.

They will include sharing computer research staff and Microsoft funding for the universitys science faculty.

Neither Microsoft nor Cambridge University are willing to comment, other than confirming discussions between the organisations.

Microsofts Cambridge research arm is likely to be similar to its current research group - a 100-strong academic branch of its larger product development centre in Redmond, outside Seattle.

The Redmond research group is headed by Nathan Myhrvold, a close colleague of Gates and a former research student at Cambridge who studied under Professor Stephen Hawking, who holds the Lucasian chair in mathematics at Cambridge.

Microsofts foray into Cambridge is not the first contact Gates has had with the town. He was once involved in talks with Acorn Computers, a Cambridge-based company that made one of the first commercial microcomputers, and owned a small stake in Chiroscience, the leading biotechnology company.

The town has a reputation as one of Europes leading centres for scientific innovation, especially in computing, telecommunications and biotechnology. Cambridge has the highest concentration of emerging biotech companies in Europe. A report by consultants Ernst & Young said the UK had 93 per cent of the European Unions biotechnology companies. East Anglia is the UKs leading region for biotech activity and 80 per cent of companies are in Cambridge.

The growth of high-tech industry in Cambridge has given a huge boost to employment. In 1993, private sector research and development - the sector that includes Microsofts investment - accounted for only 3.2 per cent of employment in Cambridge, 2,400 jobs out of 76,000.

Last year it was estimated that it accounted for 19,000 jobs in 600 firms within the region.

With growth in such a specialised area, there is a danger Cambridge could suffer from a skills shortage.

But its proximity to London - 50 minutes by train - means recruiting is not difficult. A company with an international reputation such as Microsoft will have no problems finding staff, according to recruiters. In spite of the excitement sparked by Microsofts move, the towns principal employment area remains education. In 1993, education accounted for 17,000 jobs - almost 23 per cent of total employment. Microsofts planned investment also represents another feather in the cap of Cambridge University.

But not everyone in Cambridge is delighted by the Microsoft news. Just what we need -more traffic and house prices going up even further, moaned one resident. Cambridge house prices are some of the highest in the UK and its narrow cobbled streets were laid out centuries before the age of the car. The company, founded by Bill Gates, is already recruiting staff for what will be its first research centre outside the UB