The car manufacturing sector is consistently going from strength to strength in the UK, with the most recent results revealing that April brought another month of rising productivity within the sector. This has allowed many firms to invest in their factories, with the West Midlands in particular benefiting from the rise in employment this has brought.
Luxury sports car manufacturer Aston Martin has become the latest to confirm a large scale investment into expansion, with £20 million being channelled into its production facility in Gaydon. The headquarters will gain a new chassis and pilot build facility, numerous new offices and an extension of its parts and logistics storage area, altogether adding around 10,000 square metres of commercial space to the existing development.
Manufacturing operations director at Aston Martin, Keith Stanton, says; “I am very happy to be able to execute another part of our manufacturing strategy by extending our already highly efficient facility.
“The improvements at Gaydon are a big step forward, and the development will enable us to streamline and finesse our manufacturing processes which, in turn, will allow us to be leaner and even more competitive.”
The £20 million investment will form part of the company’s plan to invest £500 million into the creation of a new generation of high performance sports cars – vehicles very much in demand both domestically and in overseas markets at present. It stands to be one of the most significant investments into the Gaydon plant for several years, and will create 250 new jobs in the fields of engineering, manufacturing and commercial functions.
However, Aston Martin may run into problems regarding the much-discussed skills shortages within engineering, especially as nearby Jaguar Land Rover has also recently announced a recruitment drive geared towards securing the best new talent available. Fortunately, Aston Martin certainly seems to be an extremely popular employer, as its apprenticeship scheme has already received more than 500 applications for the 12 places on offer this year.
The £500 million investment into achieving excellence was recently bolstered by Aston Martin becoming a beneficiary in the government’s Regional Growth Fund, reflecting the steps the firm has taken to combatting unemployment in the West Midlands. Aston Martin chief financial officer Hanno Kimer believes this will go a long way in helping the manufacturer achieve its long term goals.
He says; “The investment in our Gaydon HQ forms part of our long term strategy which is focused around being the number one British luxury sports car brand.
“We have confirmed that the coming years will see Aston Martin implementing the biggest investment programme in the 101 year history of the brand, with a plan to inject over £500 million into the company’s next generation of high performance sports cars.”
With car manufacturing strengthening the local economy of the West Midlands, similar investment programmes in the pipelines of several rival firms are expected to further build upon the prestige of the region as a centre for engineering excellence. However, with skills shortages threatening to inhibit growth, firms may find that a lack of man power, rather than finances, will prove to be the biggest issue standing in their way.
Do you think local authorities in the West Midlands should be investing in engineering training programmes?
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