JLR supplier to create 300 jobs at new factory

NEARLY 300 jobs are to be created at a new factory in Telford which is being built to support Jaguar Land Rover’s continued growth.

Canadian giant Magna International has chosen T54 as the site for a 225,000 sq ft aluminium casting facility which has received financial support from the Regional Growth Fund and assistance from UKTI and the Automotive Investment Organisation.

Construction is expected to start this autumn with production scheduled to begin in 2018. It will be home to up to 295 jobs when it is operating at full capacity.

T54 is Telford and Wrekin’s flagship automotive and advanced manufacturing employment site, and is located 12 miles from Jaguar Land Rover’s i54 site.

The factory will use Magna’s high-pressure vacuum die casting process to produce a number of advanced lightweight aluminum castings, which is a key building block in the next generation of all-aluminum and multi-material vehicle architectures.

Global automotive supplier Magna International bought Shropshire firm Stadco last October, adding 1,400 staff in the UK and Germany to its 125,000-strong global workforce.

Stadco supplied body-in-white (BIW) products and services to a range of automotive manufacturers including Jaguar Land Rover, Ford and GM.

Magna, through its Cosma International operating unit, supplies a comprehensive range of body, chassis and engineering solutions to automakers around the world.

John Farrell, president of Cosma International, said: “We are excited to work closely with Jaguar Land Rover in the development of this project which will bring the most advanced structural casting technologies to the UK.

“As lightweighting continues to be a key technology driver, we are uniquely positioned to help automakers achieve optimal weight savings throughout the vehicle architecture.”

Cllr Shaun Davies, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for business, said the announcement was the culmination of more than two years of talks with Magna.

He added: “This signals the dawn of a bright new era of opportunity for everyone in the borough. In Telford, we pride ourselves on being inventive and dynamic and the details of the high tech production process Magna has announced for its planned facility shows that they are a perfect fit for us.”