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The Sony factory is located on the Waterton Industrial Estate on the A473 about 2 kilometres south of Bridgend town centre in South Wales. It is about 3 kms from Junction 35 on the M4 motorway. It lies between Cardiff (about 30 kms) to the east and Swansea to the west. Cardiff has an international airport. It is a good location within Wales but Wales is on the edge of the U.K. and the U.K. is an island sate to the western edge of Europe. So transport costs for trade wit Europe are quite high.
		The expansion factory was built at Pencoed beside Junction 35 of the M4 in the mid -1990s. The Sony factory makes TVs for the European market. It is a Japanese multinational that makes TVs in Wales to gain free access to the European trade market. The factory employs 3000 workers - many women. The good road access to Europe by the M4 motorway is an attraction. The grants from the WDA were really important though.

Why did Sony come to Bridgend Wales? The area has secured in recent years some of the largest capital investment projects in Wales including Sony Manufacturing Company UK and Bridgend Ford's Engine Plant. Numerous UK owned and foreign companies have been attracted to and are willing to re-invest in this business location primarily due to the range of incentives and flexibility of the work force. Sony is a Japanese company that has made an inward investment into Wales. The WDA is a development agency trying to create jobs in Wales because of the high unemployment caused by the loss of its traditional industries (Mining, steel).
		The problems of multinationals: In October 2000 the BBC reported: Japanese electronics giant Sony has announced it is cutting 400 jobs at its television plants in south Wales. The strong pound and fierce competition from other television makers were blamed for the cuts. The 400 redundancies will hit its plants at Bridgend and neighbouring Pencoed in south Wales, which currently employ 3,100 staff. This shows multinationals do not have loyalty to the area - they go where incentives are best and production costs are lowest.
Sample question: For a named secondary industry you have studied Name the development Draw an annotated sketch map to show its location Explain the advantages and disadvantages of its location.