With the carmaker forced to suspend production for weeks after being targeted by hackers at the end of August, concerns have been growing that many small businesses within its supply chain could go out of business.
With plants in Solihull and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, plus Halewood in Merseyside, JLR is one of the UK’s largest exporters and a major employer – employing 34,000 directly in its UK operations. It also operates the largest supply chain in the UK automotive sector, much of it made up of SMEs, and employing around 120,000 people.
The loan from a commercial bank, backed by the Export Development Guarantee (EDG) provided by export credit agency UK Export Finance, will be paid back over five years and bolster JLR’s cash reserves so it can support its supply chain which has been greatly impacted by the shutdown.
Commenting on the move, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said: “Today we are protecting thousands of those jobs with up to £1.5 billion in additional private finance, helping them support their supply chain and protect a vital part of the British car industry.”
Mayor of the West Midlands Richard Parker said: “This support is vital to the West Midlands – it will keep people in work, protect the smaller firms that rely on JLR and give our region the stability it needs while production is paused.”
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, which represents many of JLR’s workers also welcomed the intervention, saying: “This is an important first step and demonstrates that the government has listened to the concerns raised in meetings with Unite over recent days. This is exactly what the government should be doing, taking action to protect jobs.