2,000 non-factory staff face losing jobs Battery ‘gigafactory’ plans revealed for airport
JAGUAR Land Rover has told positions to be lost were tion through quality and staff it is to axe 2,000 roles across the business. profit-over-volume across the business over the The carmaker had not approach, we will create a next financial year. issued a public statement as flatter structure designed to
All the posts affected are the Post went to press. empower employees to create what are known as ‘salaried’ However, the firm hinted and deliver at speed and roles, including managers, that jobs would be lost in a with a clear purpose. designers, technicians and statement on Tuesday, when “A full review of the Jaguar administration staff. Factory a spokesperson said: “As we Land Rover organisation is staff are understood not to begin our journey to becoming already under way. be at risk. an agile organisation, it’s “We need to reduce the
A message was sent to the imperative that we make cost base to achieve a lean firm’s salaried staff announcing every possible efficiency foundation, which will allow the news on Wednesday, right from the start, including us to transform most effectively the Post has been told. finding the right baseline into a more agile JagItuiasrnaottCkanstolewBnrowmhewriechthteakecnofsrtofmortohuerrwoofrkoffoFrcoer.t Dunlop.organisation.” affected jobs are located. In a “With a renewed impera- Former Unite official message to staff, JLR said the tive to prioritise value crea- Gerard Coyne said: “The devil is in the detail when it comes to the Reimagine strategy.
“Two thousand job losses in the current economic climate is clearly an issue of grave concern for those people faced with losing their jobs over the next 12 months.”
JLR confirmed a reduction in its cost base will “achieve a lean foundation”, which will allow it to “transform most effectively into a more agile organisation.”
It employs over 31,000 people throughout the UK .
A GIGANTIC 4.5 million square foot ‘gigafactory’ for electric car batteries is on course to be built in Coventry.
The plan, backed by Birmingham City Council, is designed to ensure the West Midlands continues to be the heart of the nation’s carmaking industry, and to protect tens of thousands of jobs.
Coventry City Council and Coventry Airport Ltd have created a partnership to develop proposals for a factory at the airport, and will seek planning permission this year.
The aim is to attract a car battery supplier to the site, and a factory could be up and running by 2025.
The factory is seen as key to the future of manufacturing across the West Midlands. As carmakers shift to manufacturing electric vehicles, they are expected to move production to areas close to car battery factories.
The batteries used to power these vehicles represent around 40 per cent
of a cars’ value, and are bulky and difficult to transport.
The West Midlands Combined Authority is backing the Coventry plan.
Mayor Andy Street is in talks with the government about securing a share of £500 million in funding to help make the plan a reality.
The mayor said: “This is about saying
to potential partners, of whom there are a number, we are preparing the site.
“We are going to minimise the amount of delay before you can get a spade in the ground by getting on with the planning arrangements.
“Planning could take two years to do. So it’s wise to get started now.”
He added: “Although it’s happening in Coventry, this has the support of the Combined Authority including councils such as those in Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country. It’s seen very much as a regional facility
“There are 46,000 jobs in the automotive supply chain in the West Midlands, and may more in the tiers below that, such as in the metal industry.”
Coventry Airport and Council will submit an outline planning application this year in 2021. What has not been officially confirmed at this stage is what it means for the future of Coventry Airport. Plans show the factory situated on the airport runway, making it clear the airport would no longer operate.
Andrew Bell, CEO of Regional City Airports which owns Coventry Airport, said: “We recognise what a significant opportunity this is and are backing the project with investment alongside our public sector partners. This is a ground-breaking initiative, and we are excited to be a part of it.”
NEW plans have been lodged to convert a Birmingham city centre hotel into an apart-hotel complex.
The Royal Angus Hotel, in St Chads Queensway, was bought by Birmingham developer SevenCapital last summer.
The company has now submitted proposals to convert the 186-bedroom hotel into an ‘apart-hotel’ containing 174 studios and apartmentstyle rooms. Plans also include the introduction of communal amenities on the ground and first floors.
The apart-hotel will be an expansion on SevenCapital’s existing hospitality business which includes the four-star Park Regis Hotel in Broad Street, with the Royal Angus also set to be rebranded as a Park Regis if the plans win consent.
Bal Sohal, chairman of the firm primarily known for its work in the residential sector, said: “Our plans for the Royal Angus Hotel will see it completely revitalised and given a new lease of life to better appeal to and welcome visitors to central Birmingham.
“The reconfiguration will mean improved accommodation and better amenities within the hotel itself allowing for comfortable stays whether it’s for two nights or two months.
“We look forward to plans being approved and getting to work on the transformation.”
FOUR travellers arriving at Birmingham Airport have already been fined £10,000 after breaching strict new border rules.
The passengers failed to declare they had recently been to one of 33 countries on Britain’s ‘red list’ of high risk destinations, and were hit with the £10k super fine.
They were also stopped from leaving the airport.
The fines were handed out on Monday, just hours after Britain ramped up border controls to contain new variants of coronavirus.
Chris Todd, West Midlands Police temporary Assistant Chief Constable, told a meeting held by the force’s strategic policing and crime board: “By midday yesterday (Monday), on the first day of implementation, we have received six passengers who had declared travelling from a red list country, who were taken to the quarantine hotel.
“We also had four passengers who were identified as having travelled from a red list country, that hadn’t declared it.
“So there are some people who have who have attempted to hide their routes but that’s not worked out.
“They were identified and received £10,000 fines as a result.”
Meanwhile a Birmingham man who landed in the UK on Monday was also fined £2,250.
Wayne Kelly, a property worker, landed at Heathrow Airport without booking a place in a quarantine hotel.
Mr Kelly, from Birmingham, was
handed a warning by Border Force and made to take a place at a quarantine-approved hotel.
Mr Kelly said: “I didn’t know what this is all about and I still don’t understand it. I came in from Dubai. I’ve now got a pay £1,750 to stay in a hotel.
“And this letter they’ve given me says I could be fined another £500. I’m trying to work to make a living. It’s a terrible way to treat people.
“The first I realised I was going to be in this trouble was when I got off the plane. Now I’ve got this nightmare of being put into a hotel when I’ve actually got a home in Birmingham with my family.”
Under the rules, travellers arriving in Britain from countries including Argentina; Brazil; Cape Verde and the United Arab Emirates must quarantine in a hotel for ten days.
The first guests have already checked into quarantine hotels in Birmingham.
Just four flights touched down all day on Monday at Birmingham Airport, including a plane from Istanbul with about 100 passengers, a small number of whom are believed to be from a red list country.
A coach took just two people to the designated hotel, a man and a woman who were escorted from arrivals to the waiting coach
by police and security.
Passengers arriving from more than 30 countries will be holed up in Birmingham hotel rooms for ten days after the city’s airport was named among five flight hubs taking flights from ‘red list’ nations.
In Birmingham five hotels have signed up for the scheme – but the Government refused to name them, saying it was “commercially sensitive information”.
Waheed Saleem, West Midlands deputy police and crime commissioner, said Birmingham Airport is expecting to process only a handful of passengers from the red list countries each month.