Government to guarantee £1.5bn Jaguar Land Rover loan after cyber shutdown

The government will receive a credit guarantee of £ 1.5 billion to Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to support its suppliers as a cyber attack.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said that the loan would protect the jobs from a commercial bank, West Midlands, Mersexide and England.

The manufacturer had to suspend production for weeks after being targeted by the computer pirates at the end of August.

Some suppliers, mostly small businesses, may be busts due to long -term closure. The company operates the largest supply chain in the UK automotive sector, which employs approximately 150,000 people.

It is hoped that the loan will give certainty to suppliers as the closure continues.

The government will overcome the loan through the export development guarantee (EDG), a financial support mechanism aimed at helping companies selling abroad.

The loan will be repaid by JLR for five years in order to increase the company’s cash reserves when making “accumulation of payments”. suppliers.

No car was built this month and the company stopped ordering with 700 suppliers.

The Parliament Committee said Some small suppliers told them At most, they stayed for a week before the cash ended.

It is thought that the stopping in operations is costing JLR. At least 50 million £ a week.

The manufacturer of India’s Tata Motors is building about 1,000 cars a day in its three factories in Solihull and Wolverhampton in Western Midlands and in Halewood in Merseyside.

Kyle said: “Following our decisive action, this credit guarantee will help to support the supply chain and protect the qualified jobs in West Midlands, Mersexide and the United Kingdom.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “Today we protect thousands of jobs up to 1.5 billion pounds in additional private financing, helping them to support supply chains and protect a vital portion of the British automobile industry.”

Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith welcomed the government’s support, but said that it “it took too long to reach there” and called for a cyber reinsurance plan to protect British businesses from state -supported actors.

The liberal democratic business spokesman Sarah Olney also praised the movement, but the government said that it was “too slow to move” and should be prepared to provide a furough plan for the affected workers when necessary.

Union Unite, representing thousands of people in JLR and supply chain, described government support as “an important first step”.

“It should be used to provide money, business guarantees and to make skills and payment in the chain of money,” Secretary -General Sharon Graham said. He said.

JLR was shot by a cyber attack on August 31st. A group of people who called on the scattered lapsus $ hunters claimed responsibility for hacking.

It was also behind Number of High Profile attacks Marks & Spencer and Co-op, including retailers in earlier this year.

JLR workers were told to stay at home since September 1, and no solid return date was provided.

30,000 people are directly employed directly in the company’s facilities.

A JLR spokesman said: “Our teams continue to work with Cyber ​​Security Experts, NCSC and law enforcement officers to ensure that we can start again safely and safely.

“The basic work of our rescue program continues strictly and we will continue to provide regular updates to our colleagues, retailers and suppliers.”