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Refer to Business Location International, Brussels.
http://www.businesslocationinternational.be/
Ernst & Young chose to exit the international location advisory services (ILAS)
business at the end of 2004 because of Sarbanes-Oxley and other considerations.
Marcel de Meirleir, who led the ILAS group in Brussels, set up Business
Location International with former colleagues as an independent service to perform
such work. The following profile therefore reflects services which Ernst &
Young no longer provides in 2005, and is just maintained here for background
reference during this transition period. |
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Contact us about how to buy a copy of this guide to business site
selection decisions. Refer to the
Biographic Profile
for Marcel for additional background about his experience. |
Location Location Location : A Plant Location and Site
Selection Guide, by Marcel De Meirleir
ISBN 1-890586-11-0 published by TIPS Technical
Publishing, 2006
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GUIDE Service Profile : Location Consulting and
Incentives Consulting
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| Ernst & Young - International Location Advisory Services
(ILAS), Belgium |
| Executive Summary
Marcel De Meirleir (see also
Biographic Profile) led the development of business location consulting
services in Europe 40 years ago as founder of the Plant Location
International group, which he sold to Price Waterhouse in 1989.
He had responsibility for expanding the capabilities of Ernst & Young
related to this niche through working relationships with local specialists
around the firm for major projects, not limited exclusively to
investment in European areas. For example, recent projects have
involved locations such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and northern Africa as well
as northern, southern and eastern Europe rather than just the central and
western European locations which attract many projects.
Projects were typically performed in
cooperation with Ernst & Young specialists in the local markets under
consideration or with relevant professional knowledge as a specialty (tax
planning and compliance, incentives,
supply chain logistics, industry sector, global strategy, business
structure, transaction support services, post-M&A services, etc.).
The ILAS Corporate department provided independent advice to
both large and medium sized companies for international location analysis,
including not only new location choices but also the optimization of
existing or acquired operations, and the planning of relocations or
closures. The work included market research, project feasibility
studies, partner searches, and contract assistance. Project finance
work included feasibility approvals, documentation, tax optimization and
finance solutions as well as help with investment incentive negotiations.
The group also performed work for regional and national
economic development organizations, as well as for the tourism, hotel and
leisure sector.
Ernst & Young had 84,000 employees in 130
countries worldwide at the time. |
Contact information
Professor Emeritus
Dr. Marcel De
Meirleir, Director
Ernst & Young,
International Location Advisory Services
Alternate contact
: Walter De Roo
Website :
www.ey.com
Biographic Profile :
Local Ernst & Young
contacts
Local Ernst & Young partners were often unfamiliar with the
capabilities of this global service based in Belgium, despite extensive internal
knowledge-sharing processes and networking capabilities, simply because this
was a highly specialized niche practice and not something which partners
would frequently need for their clients. By the nature of the
business, location consulting is generally a periodic rather than ongoing
need of major clients. Although the firm has chosen
to exit this specialty at the end of 2004, it remains unclear how E&Y
partners will handle client requests for assistance in this specialty.
Few partners were aware that this service existed within the firm, and even
fewer may now suggest good alternate solutions outside the firm for their
clients in the absence of such service capabilities. It is, by
deliberate strategy, no longer one of the professional specialties which the
firm offers to clients. |
| Relationship Disclosure E&Y ILAS
Belgium was an active participant in the SICR services of GDI Solutions
(contractual relationship) from the start to help introduce their services
to relevant executives in North America on a non-exclusive and independent
basis for a success fee. |
Relationship leader at GDI Solutions for potential clients
:
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Scope of Services
- international business location strategy, selection,
and implementation
- investment incentive negotiations, with special
expertise in Europe and the compliance of incentive offers in European
regions with the rules imposed by the European Commission, such as to
avoid "claw-back" risks by which offers may be withdrawn, even after
reliance upon them, because the authorities involved made an offer
contrary to such European requirements.
- services to investment promotion agencies, such
as regional industrial development studies (SWOT analysis, evaluation of
sites, business clusters, potential investors and their needs, incentive
studies, competitor analysis)
- advisory services related to project finance for
corporate real estate (purchase, developer finance, lease purchase, lease
back, lease terms, rent negotiations, etc.)
- development of product-oriented clusters among
mid-sized companies, such as to achieve economies of scale and other
benefits through collaborative efforts as a group, including development
of shared operations or services such as to address "missing" local
capabilities to become more competitive
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Illustrative project summaries
- supporting a $28 million incentive negotiation,
and numerous others
- avoiding "claw-back" repayment of a large
incentives package
- cluster analysis for automotive industry in
northern France
- European call center location selection
- location study in Asia
- location study in Portugal
- various European logistics studies
- business plan and negotiations to support a
European rail project
- incentive negotiations and studies in South
Africa
- tourism development in north Africa - hotels, casino,
shopping, golf
- project finance study for a shopping/fun center
in western Europe
- casino feasibility study in western Europe
- regional tourism development study in northern
Europe
- location and acquisition study for a hotel chain
in western and eastern Europe
- location selection for retirement homes
- expansion and acquisition support for a fine
chemicals client
- labor market analysis, travel to work area,
training, skills, costs, availability, projections, etc.
More detailed descriptions of illustrative projects may be
linked in the future, but normally these would be available (and therefore
more easily updated) on the website of the service provider, or in
standardized presentations which can be obtained by direct contact.
For obvious competitive reasons, as well as client confidentiality, there
are constraints on what may be openly published here.
Executives interested in specific capabilities, not all of
which can be highlighted here, should contact the firm directly. In
particular, additional relevant experience may exist through the prior work
of the professionals while at other firms, as in the case of Marcel De
Meirleir's role as a pioneer in European location consulting work over the
past 40 years. |
Specialties :
Highlights of unique service capabilities
- creative public/private financing of regional
industrial development studies
- international hotel location selection and
feasibility studies
- negotiation and compliance services for European
incentives
- analysis of labor market areas for business
location decisions
- global project experience
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| Illustrative client list
This is a very selective list, provided by E&Y ILAS and
authorized for publication here. There are many others, including
firms which may not be widely recognized.
Air Liquide
Amoco
Black & Decker
BP
Cendant
International Paper
London Calling Center
Stanley
Staples
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Other related services
of Ernst & Young
For general information, refer to the Ernst & Young
website at www.ey.com or
contact Marcel De Meirleir directly to discuss specific interests.
A global firm such as Ernst & Young offers many services
which may be relevant to the interests of executives who are responsible for
global direct investment projects. This may include tax planning,
services to executives on foreign assignments, tax compliance, or many other
specialized services. Follow these selective links
about related services of Ernst & Young
Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction Group
European Investment Monitor - market trends
Real Estate Advisory Services - overview
Global Workforce Management
International Tax Services - contacts
Ernst & Young Online - reference materials (requires login)
Since the EY website is revised frequently, some of these
links may change, and we may not know about it immediately. Please let
us know if you notice that any of the links are not working properly. |
| Alliances with other firms
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Follow these links about allied firms or alliances of Ernst &
Young
Legal Services - nearly 2900 lawyers in 70 countries through alliances
Country contacts for international legal services |
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Standard legal disclaimer
: about
professional service provider participants, contacts, and information |
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