£400m JLR plant 'set for Midlands'
A £400m engine plant that will create 2,000 jobs is set to be built in the West Midlands, according to reports. Car maker Jaguar Land Rover is said to be behind the plans for a base at the i54 business park in Wolverhampton, which has been made an enterprise zone.
The announcement could be made as early as today by business secretary Vince Cable (19 September 2011) to coincide with the Liberal Democrat party conference in the city.
It has been reported that the site is likely to take about two years to build and could eventually employ up to 2,000 members of staff.
It comes after previous speculation in the summer that Jaguar Land Rover was going to build an engine site for 1,000 jobs at the site.
It follows a period of resurgence for Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover which reported pre-tax profits of £1.1bn in the year to 31 March while revenues increased by 51 per cent to £9.9bn.
It had been thought that Indian-based Tata had been considering building a site in India or South Wales.
But it was the offer of £10m in government support that secured a plant in the Midlands, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
Tata Motors is owned by billionaire Ratan Tata, bought Jaguar Land Rover from Ford for £1.5bn in June 2008.
As the car industry went into decline, Tata considered closing one of Jaguar Land Rover's sites - a decision later reversed.
It currently has 21,000 members of staff at its plants at Castle Bromwich and Solihull in the West Midlands and Halewood on Merseyside.
Earlier this month Jaguar Land Rover took on 336 graduates in its 2011 intake. The Warwickshire manufacturer said it was the largest batch of new recruits in its history.
Jaguar Land Rover has not confirmed the speculation.
