Lotus launches recruitment drive as it announces plans for Warwickshire engineering office

Sports car manufacturer Lotus cars has launched a recruitment drive for an additional 200 staff while unveiling plans to open an engineering office in Warwickshire.

Lotus Cars, based at Hethel, Norfolk, said 30 staff will initially be based in the Warwickshire office, and over the next 12 months more will be recruited.

In 2018, it recruited 289 more staff and said it was taking on the additional workforce to help “grow the brand”.

Lotus is backed by China’s Geely which gained a 51% stake in the British firm after it bought into the Malaysian car manufacturer Proton in 2017.

A spokesperson said: “Lotus Cars is undergoing an exciting resurgence with the backing of Geely. The focus now is to increase the Lotus brand’s appeal and start to grow the business through our core sportscar products – this is the very heart of Lotus and what we are famous for.”

Lotus launched its new £1m electric sports car, the Type 130, last month.

“Final assembly of the new Type 130 hypercar will be at Hethel – our UK HQ, and like our current manufacturing processes, some sub assemblies will be completed by our partners and suppliers,” the spokesperson added.

Lotus has sub-assembly manufacturing facilities in Worcester, where 37 staff are employed, and in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, which has 28 employees.

Both these facilities supply Lotus at Hethel.

Total headcount for Lotus is around 1090, with the majority in Norfolk.