Promise of 700 more jobs at new JLR plant
Major expansion by Jaguar Land Rover with the promise of another 700 jobs at its engine factory on the i54 near Shropshire was welcomed today.
The under-construction factory was originally meant to cost £355m and employ 750 people when it opens at the end of next year. But the luxury car maker is to almost double the number of jobs and pump £500m into the site.
It leaves the 226-acre i54 business park between Telford and Wolverhampton, almost full with council bosses confident every plot will be sold soon.
Just 30 acres remain available for sale with JLR owning the vast majority of it.
However the company has long prompted speculation it would be expanding because the 828,000 sq ft facility it is building takes up only around half of the land it owns.
With the new engine testing facility unveiled by JLR boss Ralph Speth at the Geneva Motor Show the factory will extend to more than 1 million sq ft.
The i54 is already home to aerospace manufacturer Moog and laboratories company Eurofins.
There are four more plots – 30 acres in total – still for sale.
The plan is for Staffordshire County Council and Wolverhampton City Council to attract an office block, a business hotel, a services centre and a 'business village' offering smaller office buildings.
It is hoped supply chain firms will flock to the i54 to be near to JLR, which is expected to be producing engines by early 2015.
Councillors Roger Lawrence, Phillip Atkins, and Brian Edwards from Wolverhampton City Council, Staffordshire County Council and South Staffordshire Council said: "Jaguar Land Rover's latest announcement is excellent news.
"Extending its plant will create hundreds of jobs in addition to the 750 created when the advanced engine manufacturing facility is operational– not to mention the thousands more through the supply chain.
"We are delighted Jaguar Land Rover is strengthening its commitment to the i54 site before construction of the main facility has even been completed."
Councillor Lawrence, leader of Wolverhampton Council, added: "We have around 30 acres left to market. I would anticipate putting 'i54 full' signs up soon."
Some of the first employees at JLR are currently training in Wolverhampton.
