Welsh firm wins major Aston Martin contract
Construction company TRJ Ltd has won a major Aston Martin contract that will bring millions of pounds worth of construction work to Wales.
First Minister Carwyn Jones congratulated the Ammanford-based firm on securing the contract.
The news follows a decision by the Welsh Government earlier this year to advertise Aston Martin contracts on its Sell2Wales procurement site.
It was the first time that private sector contracts had ever been advertised on the Sell2Wales channel and was part of a move to ensure that Welsh companies are wellplaced to benefit from Aston Martin’s move to Wales.
Companies from across the UK tendered for the work at St Athan, but today Aston Martin announced that TRJ had been successful in winning the lucrative contract for Phase 2 of the construction of its new manufacturing facility.
The company was previously successful in gaining a contract for Phase 1 of the construction in December 2016.
Speaking about TRJ Ltd’s success, the First Minister said: “Our decision to open our Sell2Wales procurement channel to Aston Martin was designed to ensure that businesses right across Wales feel the benefit of the company’s decision to locate here.
“I am so pleased that Ammanfordbased firm TRJ have been successful in winning the contract for the next phase of construction at Aston Martin’s St Athan facility.
“This is exactly the sort of outcome we had hoped for and I look forward to seeing more Welsh businesses benefitting from Aston Martin in the coming months.”
Aston Martin president and CEO Andy Palmer commented: “This is yet another step on our journey in Wales, with the facility now starting to take shape. TRJ have proven themselves during Phase 1 and we look forward to working with them over the course of this next phase of the project.”
In February 2016, Aston Martin announced that it had chosen St Athan from 20 potential global locations as its second manufacturing facility. A recruitment drive last year began the search for up to 750 new employees who will work at the facility.
More than 40 employees who will work at St Athan have already been hired and are working and training at the company’s manufacturing facility in Gaydon, Warwickshire.
The new manufacturing centre, which was secured by the efforts of the Welsh Government, will see the first electric DBX vehicle coming off the production line in 2020.
The Welsh Government saw off competition from locations including North America and the Middle East, as well as closer to home in Coventry, to win the lucrative investment project.
As well as creating hundreds of high-skilled jobs at the factory, the investment, which will run into hundreds of millions of pounds, will support a further 1,000 jobs in the supply chain and within local businesses.
The acquisition of 400,000 sq ft at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan was the largest industrial property deal in Wales for 2016.