JLR to resume some manufacturing in coming days after cyber-attack
Theo Leggettbusiness correspondent and
Rachel Clunbusiness reporter
Getty Images
Jaguar Land Rover has said it will resume some production in the “coming days” after a cyber-attack forced the carmaker to suspend operations.
Work at its three UK facilities in the West Midlands and Merseyside were halted on 1 September after a cyber-attack the night before.
The BBC understands manufacturing will resume first at the engine facility in Wolverhampton on 6 October, and production at other plants will have a phased return.
Industry sources said they expect it to still be several weeks before the production lines are running at full capacity.
In a note to JLR staff on Monday, the company said the “foundational work of our recovery programme is firmly underway”, and the phased restart was to ensure IT systems were brought back in a “safe and secure manner”.
Previously, the company had said it did not expect production to resume at its facilities until 1 October at the earliest.
The spokesperson said JLR was continuing work on its recovery following the shutdown.
“We continue to work around the clock alongside cybersecurity specialists, the UK government’s National Cyber Security Centre and law enforcement to ensure our restart is done in a safe and secure manner,” they said.
Phased restart
Companies in JLR’s supply chain, which has been under huge financial pressure as a result of the stoppage, have welcomed the news.
Many smaller companies in particular were thought to be at risk of bankruptcy.
About 30,000 people are directly employed at the company’s UK plants in Solihull, Wolverhampton and Halewood, and about 100,000 work for firms in the supply chain.
Some of these firms supply parts exclusively to JLR, while others sell components to other carmakers as well.
One supplier told the BBC the news that the restart was welcome and would provide some relief for businesses that rely on orders from JLR, but insisted that the losses already caused meant that financial assistance was still badly needed.
The supplier warned that vulnerable firms could not afford to take on more debt.
Over the weekend the government announced it would provide loan guarantees worth £1.5bn for JLR, with the stipulation that the supply chain would be supported.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the loan would “provide certainty” and “support for the jobs in its business and its supply chain”.
Sources within JLR itself have pointed out that the funding will be used to support suppliers with which it has a direct relationship, to ease cashflow and help pay for parts orders. It will be up to those businesses to pay their own suppliers.
The JLR spokesperson said the company thanked everyone connected to the manufacturer “for their continued patience, understanding and support.”
The spokesperson continued: “We know there is much more to do but the foundational work of our recovery is firmly underway, and we will continue to provide updates as we progress.”
Downing Street welcomed JLR’s announcement, adding it had been “a concerning time for workers at Jaguar Land Rover and, of course, across the supply chain”.
JLR is one of several UK companies that have been hit in a spate of cyber-attacks this year.
Luxury department store Harrods was contacted by hackers this week after data related to 430,000 customer records was stolen in an IT breach.
That breach was separate to attempts to hack into separate Harrods systems earlier this year.
The group of Hackers that claimed responsibility for that attempt has also claimed responsibility for hacks on retailers M&S and Co-op, which have cost the companies hundreds of millions of pounds in lost sales.
