Lotus Cars has revealed it plans to increase the size of its workforce from between 600 to 1200 workers over the coming years. The news comes in spite of the fact that the company lost out on a substantial £27.5 million pound government grant.
It might seem strange, then, that the company is actually shedding staff over the forthcoming months. This, they say, is about being efficient in the short term. Most of the positions being axed will be back-office jobs. The famous sports car brand stated it had a five year plan of investment, which would see a number of highly skilled job vacancies being created.
The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, was given a tour of the Norfolk-based company’s facilities on Monday. He said that it was vital companies like Lotus were helping to revive the UK car industry, which he said had been written off many years previously.
While the company lost out on the £27.5 million grant, it intends to apply for another government grant of £10.4 million, which will help it achieve its targets over the coming years. Group Lotus’ chief executive Dany Bahar said that further job creation was likely to be influenced by whether or not the company benefitted from the extra funding, a point he no doubt made in person to Vince Cable when he toured the factory.
We’re fairly lucky in this country that our Government is in a position to hand out grants in this way. Many poorer nations simply do not have this additional revenue, which, in hard times, acts as a kind of breakdown cover for the motor industry – and many other sectors as well. Fingers crossed that Lotus is successful in its job creation plans.
Breakdown Cover from 
