£60m of supply contracts up for grabs with Aston Martin
LUXURY car maker Aston Martin is looking for Welsh businesses to grab more than £60m worth of supply contracts for its new factory in South Wales that by 2020 will employ more than 750 high-skilled workers.
It follows the decision of the Welsh Government to open up its procurement channel to the iconic car manufacturer.
It is the first time that private sector contracts have been advertised on Sell2Wales and will ensure Welsh SMEs have easy access to the raft of contracts being awarded by Aston Martin for work linked to the preparation and commencement of production at its new factory at a former RAF super hangar facility at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Aston Martin contracts worth several million pounds have already been advertised on Sell2Wales for phase one of its £200m investment project, with Ammanford-based construction firm, TRJ being one of the main beneficiaries.
First Minister Carwyn Jones made the announcement ahead of the official ceremony to mark the commencement o the second phase of works at the former MoD super hangar site at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan.
He said “I am delighted to announce that we have now opened up our Sell2Wales procurement channel to Aston Martin. This is exciting news for Welsh business as it is the first time the channel has been used to award private sector contracts.
“The move means that Welsh SMEs will now have easy access to the range of contracts being advertised by Aston Martin for work on the St Athan site and when combined with for example active supplier development from Business Wales could potentially mean over £60m of contracts coming to Wales.
“Aston Martin is already having a positive influence on the economy of Wales with more than 40 Welsh workers already employed at the Gaydon site and we know that many more job opportunities will follow before 2020. The company’s move to St Athan is a major success story for Wales and I look forward to continuing to build on our working partnership with the company in order to bring maximum benefits to our economy and enhance our worldwide reputation.”
Dr Andy Palmer, president and chief executive of Aston Martin said: “We are delighted to have made another significant step forward on our St Athan journey, as we develop the former MOD site to our new manufacturing facility.
“Being able to use the Sell2Wales procurement channel has enabled us to promote the various contracts we have to a wider audience within Wales and beyond.”
Owain Jones, Director of TRJ said: “It is really great news that Aston Martin is actively looking to engage with Welsh SMEs and I am sure we will be the first of many Welsh companies to benefit from their move to St Athan.”
Last year Aston Martin announced it had selected St Athan from 20 potential global locations it had been considering for its second manufacturing facility.