Jaguar Land Rover investing £200 million to update and improve its design & Engineering centre at Gaydon.

• Jaguar Land Rover begins construction on £200m project at its Gaydon site
• New development will include design centres for both Jaguar and Land Rover
• New campus facility will provide an industry leading environment for employees.

Jaguar Land Rover Automotive plc, the UK’s largest car manufacturer, today announced it is beginning construction work on a £200 million redevelopment of its design and engineering centre at Gaydon in Warwickshire. 

The expansion represents the first major construction project at one of the company’s non-manufacturing sites in over a decade. 

The development is intended to become one of the world’s foremost automotive product, engineering and design sites – fitting for a company with ambitious plans for continued global growth.

Chris Elliott, Property Programmes Director for Jaguar Land Rover, said: “The new design and engineering centre is a testament both to Jaguar Land Rover's British heritage of innovation and its compelling vision for future vehicle technology. The new space will centralise our design, product engineering and purchasing functions in an original and modern environment, as well as creating additional capacity for the future.”

Jaguar Land Rover worked with leading architectural practice Bennetts Associates to design the scheme and has engaged Laing O’Rourke as its construction partner. Laing O’Rourke will develop the site to create a unique landscaped campus comprising new offices and Jaguar and Land Rover design centres.

In recent years Jaguar Land Rover has invested heavily in its UK vehicle manufacturing facilities at Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull to support the introduction of all-new vehicles such as the Jaguar XE, XF and F-PACE, Range Rover Evoque Convertible and Land Rover Discovery Sport. It has also made significant progress in building its international manufacturing presence over the last year, with a new manufacturing facility under construction in Slovakia and the opening of its plant in Brazil.

Over the past five years Jaguar Land Rover has employed more than 20,000 people, taking its workforce to more than 40,000. The company has invested more than £11 billion in new product creation and capital expenditure.

First employees for new St Athan plant gaining skills at Aston Martin HQ building the All-New DB11 Sports car.

• First employees for new St Athan plant gaining skills at Aston Martin HQ
• Highly skilled technicians to return to Wales to build the Aston Martin crossover

Earlier this year, Aston Martin announced significant new investments in its long term future in the United Kingdom, choosing St Athan in Wales as the location for its second manufacturing facility.

As a specialist luxury manufacturer, Aston Martin requires highly skilled technicians to hand build its cars, so the new employees for the St Athan plant, which will begin full production in 2020, will commence their careers with Aston Martin at Gaydon. 

Over 40 people have begun work across the business where they are being fully trained in the ‘Aston Martin way’ by building the new DB11.

Dr. Andy Palmer CMG, Aston Martin President and CEO said: “We are proud of the fact that we have a world-class team building our cars so it is vital that the new Welsh workforce is equally dedicated and passionate. 

It gives me great satisfaction to be able to employ a workforce that is local to the St Athan plant and bring them here to Gaydon to train them to become the skilled technicians required to build our beautiful hand-crafted cars. We have continued to work closely with the Welsh Government throughout the recruitment process and we are very pleased with the calibre of our new employees.”

A recruitment event held in Cardiff in the Spring attracted over 3,000 applicants for the jobs being created at St Athan, from apprentices at the start of their careers to already highly-skilled workers.

First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones said: “We are delighted that Aston Martin chose Wales for its second manufacturing facility and it is a pleasure to see the first group of Welsh employees starting out in their new careers with Aston Martin. The new plant will transform the Ministry of Defence site at St Athan with the economic benefits estimated at half a billion pounds over 30 years.”

Construction work is scheduled to start at St Athan in 2017, centering on the transformation of three super-hangers at MOD St Athan.

Aston Martin announces it has located a new production facility in St Athan, Wales for its next gen cars.

• St Athan, Wales selected as second manufacturing location for new crossover as part of £200M investment in new products and facilities
• Gaydon, England confirmed as manufacturing centre for next generation sports cars
• Up to 1,000 new jobs created across both locations by 2020 

Aston Martin today announced significant new investments towards its long-term future in the United Kingdom. The company confirmed that St Athan in Glamorgan has been chosen as the location for its second manufacturing facility.

With the decision to build the new crossover vehicle in Wales, the company additionally confirmed that production of next-generation sports cars would be focused at its headquarters and manufacturing centre in Gaydon, Warwickshire. Production of the recently announced all-electric RapidE is also to be located at Gaydon, starting in 2018.

It is anticipated that up to 1,000 new jobs will be created across St Athan and Gaydon between now and 2020. Across the supply chain and local businesses, a further 3,000 jobs will likely be created as a direct result of these investments.

Dr. Andrew Palmer, CEO of Aston Martin said: “During our 103-year history, Aston Martin has become famous for making beautiful hand-crafted cars in England. 

Through a detailed evaluation of over 20 potential global locations for this new manufacturing facility, we were consistently impressed with the focus on quality, cost and speed from the Welsh Government team. 

As a great British company, we look forward to St Athan joining Gaydon as our second centre of hand-crafted manufacturing excellence.”

First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones said: “I am delighted to officially welcome Aston Martin to Wales. We have been working closely with the company for almost two years in the face of fierce competition from other potential sites across the world. 

Our success today is testament to the reputation, dedication and skills of the Welsh workforce, all qualities that are synonymous with such a luxury, hand-crafted brand as Aston Martin.

“Today is the start of a long-term relationship between Wales and Aston Martin. We will work together in building on the strong foundations of our partnership to nurture a prosperous and rewarding future for this iconic company and its skilled workforce in Wales.”

Prime Minister, David Cameron said: “Aston Martin is an iconic British brand and the decision to invest here shows real confidence in our economy. 

With our economic strengths and easy access to European markets, the UK automotive sector is thriving. It is one of the biggest in Europe – and the most productive – and Aston’s creation of up to 1,000 new jobs in Wales and the West Midlands is welcome news.”

Occupying some 90 acres, the new Aston Martin facility at St Athan will re-purpose some of the facilities currently in use at the site by the Ministry of Defence. 

Centered on the transformation of the three existing ‘super-hangers’ at MOD St Athan, construction work is planned to commence in 2017 with full vehicle production commencing in 2020.

St Athan will be the sole production facility for a new Aston Martin crossover vehicle. A concept crossover vehicle named ‘DBX’ was first shown in early 2015 and showed the company’s intention and direction for this fast-growing segment of the luxury market. 

With growing demand for these types of vehicles in markets such as China and the United States, it is expected that over 90% of the production from St Athan will be exported outside of the United Kingdom.

Aston Martin will commence production in the autumn at Gaydon of the new DB11, the replacement for the iconic DB9 and the first car to be launched under the company’s Second Century plan. 

Over the course of the next five years, the company will both replace and expand its entire sports car portfolio. Starting with DB11, sports car manufacturing will be centered at Gaydon with the facility progressively expanding production to a planned maximum volume of 7,000 sports cars a year by 2020.