Dell, the world's largest computer maker, is to create 1,000 jobs in Europe by opening its second manufacturing plant in the continent.

The Texas-based group is planning to invest €200 million in a new factory in Poland, to meet increasing demand from customers in central, southern and eastern Europe.

The company, which builds PCs and laptop computers to order, currently services its European customers from Limerick, Ireland. The Poland factory will be its eighth globally, after it recently announced plans to establish its first site in India and a new facility in Brazil. It also manufactures in Malaysia and China.

Paul Bell, senior vice president for Dell in Europe, Middle East and Africa, said the facility would help the group tap into surging growth in the region: "Proximity to a large base of Dell customers, the significant opportunity for growth promised by the Central and Eastern European economies, and the availability of a well-educated Polish workforce were key factors in our decision."

He said the factory would, within five years, be of a similar scale to its Irish operation, manufacturing PCs, laptops and servers.

However he said the group had no plans to use the facility to shift work from Ireland to Poland, where labour costs will be lower. Although the group is expanding its manufacturing operations in lower cost economies the scope to shift all production to these countries is limited by transport costs, which would wipe out much of the gain from lower wages.

Dell employs nearly 70,000 workers globally, with 17,000 of those in its Europe, Middle East and Africa region, which is headquartered in Bracknell. The company opened its Limerick fractory in 1990.

News of the Polish factory comes after a string of setbacks for the group, including a steady stream of profits warnings over the last year and a recall this summer of some four million laptop computer batteries.

Mr Bell confirmed that the Polish Government and the local city council in Łódź had provided an incentives package but declined to give further details.

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