Insider Media Limited

Work to build Jaguar Land Rover’s £350m Staffordshire plant can now begin after plans were approved last night. Staffordshire County Council cabinet member Ben Adams told Insider that JLR was already conducting talks with the region's universities to produce "the next generation" of qualified engineers for the site.

The development, to be located at the i54 business park site in the Black Country, was approved by South Staffordshire Council at a planning committee meeting last night (20 December).

JLR, owned by Indian firm Tata, will now build the low-emission engines on a 297-acre site at the i54 - recently named as an enterprise zone site.

Staffordshire County Council is investing £18.5m in the site and will lead the project to build a dedicated motorway junction.

The plant will create 750 jobs but Adams, cabinet member for economic growth and enterprise, said many more could be created in the supply chain.

"The real hi-tech, skilled jobs that the plant will create are a real boost for Staffordshire," he said. "And local businesses will undoubtedly benefit from the deal – up to 2,000 additional supply chain jobs could be generated."

He added that manufacturing giant JLR, which is headquartered in Warwickshire, was already in talks with the region's universities and colleges.

"We all want to make sure that the next generation of high-tech engineers is trained in Staffordshire," he said. "I know JLR is keen to link up with the local education institutions to discuss training schemes and joint ventures for the future."

September’s announcement that Jaguar Land Rover had chosen to locate in Staffordshire in September put the council at the top of a national table for job creation in the autumn.

The JLR announcement was named as one of the top five economic success stories in the Breeze Strategy inward investment report for autumn.

Adams said JLR was "keen to get moving" with the development.

"They want to be producing engines as soon as they can; within two years the goal is to be in full production," he added. "Those engines will go right round the world – they'll put our manufacturing skills even further on the map."