Business Secretary visits Aston Martin after announcing £9m to support 2,500 jobs in auto tech

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has visited Aston Martin’s HQ in Warwickshire where she met with apprentices and senior leaders and learnt more about the company’s high-performance electrification strategy.

The visit comes after the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) announced almost £9m in government funding through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) to develop Aston Martin’s EV technology – supporting over 2,500 local jobs.

The project will help accelerate the development of a luxury battery EV platform to drive forward a route to net zero, including vehicle light weighting, a digital toolchain and electrification training.

The Government is also working with industry via the Automotive Transformation Fund to unlock investment in an internationally competitive EV supply chain. The ATF has delivered significant results, including Tata’s recent announcement of over £4bn to build a new gigafactory in the UK. Offers made to date under the ATF are expected to leverage more than £6bn in private investment.

This follows a previous £1bn investment in Sunderland by Nissan and Envision AESC, £600m investment by BMW to transform the Oxford MINI plant, £380m investment in Halewood by Ford, £100m in electric van production at Stellantis in Ellesmere Port, and £60m in Hertfordshire by Johnson Matthey.

Badenoch said: “We’re backing our auto sector to succeed, and I was pleased to see first hand how Aston Martin’s work here in Warwickshire is helping us lead the way on cutting edge new automotive technologies.

“Working in partnership with the car industry, we’re securing high-quality jobs and investment across the UK and growing the green industries of the future.”

Michael Straughan, executive consultant to Aston Martin’s CEO said: “We were honoured to welcome the Business Secretary to Gaydon today, providing a valuable opportunity to showcase the huge potential of the UK’s luxury car industry and outline our high-performance electrification strategy, which has been boosted by funding from the APC.

“As a growing, export-led business, Aston Martin is proud to serve as flagbearer for British advanced engineering and is passionate about working with the government to maximise opportunities for economic growth and to support high quality employment.”