Business

The tsunami trigged by the earthquake in Japan
advertisement

Fujitsu and Panasonic donate £3m to Japan quake victims

By Hugh Fort
March 18, 2011

A pair of Bracknell-based IT giants have dug deep to donate 400 million Japanese yen to people hit by last week’s devastating earthquake.

Fujitsu and Panasonic both have offices all over Japan and have made huge donations to help people affected by the disaster.

Fujitsu, whose UK headquarters is in Lovelace Road, is one of the biggest companies in Japan.

A spokesman confirmed the company had put the cash forward as well as relief supplies.

The amount works out at around £766,000.

The spokesman said six of the company’s buildings had suffered some damage but its buildings in Tokyo, which are among the tallest in Japan, were not damaged.

He said: “The company has numerous other offices around the country. There is one building in north Japan, where the earthquake happened.

“However, it is not by the coast and has not been damaged by the tsunami.”

He said the company did not yet know the financial implications of the disaster and was operating as normal while assessing the impact to its suppliers, and would release further details at a later date.

He said: “As it stands we are not aware of any Fujitsu employees who have been affected by this disaster.”

Panasonic, which has its UK base in Bracknell, has donated 300m yen, which is around £2.3m, to the relief fund.

The company in Willoughby Road has also donated 10,000 radios, 10,000 lamps and 500,000 batteries to help with the recovery.

A spokesman said: “Panasonic Group and its employees express deep condolences for victims of the earthquake and sincerely hope for swift recovery of the people and areas affected by the disaster.”

Experts predict recovery from the disaster will be the most expensive in history, with an estimated cost of £100 billion.

The quake measured 8.9 on the Richter scale, which is 1,000 times more powerful than the recent earthquake in New Zealand.

The earthquake caused a huge wave that smashed into Japan’s eastern coastline, destroying coastal towns and sweeping boats, cars, and debris miles inland.

More than a million households were left without water and more than four million have no power.

The death toll from the tragedy is expected to reach 10,000 this week.

| Submit Comments | View Comments (4)

« Previous Story | Next Story »

Most recent user comments 4 of 4

Show 15 | 25 | 50 per page

I can see both sides - I think it's good to help Japan, but at the same time, if these companies had that much money to spare, why did they feel the need to make so many people redundant?

I was made redundant from 3M two years ago at a time when the company was busy buying out other companies - I can tell you I wasn't happy.

CMA
21/03/2011 at 13:31

Yep, I seriously do. Charity begins at home, plenty of problems in the UK that need rectifying, Japan has enough money of their own to sort this.

Brad .
18/03/2011 at 13:17

Seriously Brad? Do you think that's honestly a sensible comment to make? Do you think the people who have been made redundant really consider their lot in life to be worse than that of those who have died or had their lives totally destroyed by the Tsunami? Wow! Some people just amaze me.