Chancellor calls firm a 'jewel in the crown of our economy' as UK government underwrites bank loan
, the government agreed to support the beleaguered carmaker - and, by association, the smaller firms that supply it - with a loan guarantee for up to £1.5 billion. The announcement was made by the Business and Trade Secretary, Peter Kyle, following an official visit to JLR last week.
“This cyber-attack was not only an assault on an iconic British brand, but on our world-leading automotive sector and the men and women whose livelihoods depend on it,” he commented. “Following our decisive action, this loan guarantee will help support the supply chain and protect skilled jobs in the West Midlands, Merseyside and throughout the UK.” The money will come from a commercial bank, though it will be underwritten by the taxpayer via the Export Development Guarantee. Specifically, it was intended to ‘bolster JLR’s cash reserves so it can support its supply chain’ - a solution that was evidently considered preferable to the introduction of a furlough scheme, or the government itself buying parts in the interim. The loan will be repaid over five years. “Jaguar Land Rover is an iconic British company which employs tens of thousands of people - a jewel in the crown of our economy,” added Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer. “Today we are protecting thousands of those jobs with up to £1.5 billion in additional private finance, helping them support their supply chain and protect a vital part of the British car industry.” At last, progress. Doubtless there has been much of that inside JLR’s ‘around the clock’ efforts to recover from the cyber attackwithout extended comment. Today, though, in the wake of a government visit earlier this week - and significant pressure from its supply chain - it has some good news. 'As part of the controlled, phased restart of our operations, today we have informed colleagues, suppliers and retail partners that sections of our digital estate are now up and running,' it confirmed in an official statement. 'The foundational work of our recovery programme is firmly underway.' The ‘sections’ it is talking about do not, for now it seems, include a return to work for anyone employed in its factories - which remain firmly closed until next week at least - but they do address several issues that were arguably even more pressing. For one thing, the firm claims to ‘have significantly increased IT processing capacity for invoicing’ which will be music to its beleaguered supplier's ears as it promises to clear the backlog of payments that have built up since its system was shut down. Additionally, its Global Parts Logistics Centre, which is responsible for parts distribution to its retail partners, is said to be returning to full operation - which, of course, removes the road block faced by any customers whose cars required servicing or repair in September. There is likely a backlog to address here, too - but again, it signifies a welcome righting of the wider ship. Finally, and no less important for JLR itself, it reports that ‘the financial system we use to process the wholesales of vehicles has been brought back online and we are able to sell and register vehicles for our clients faster, delivering important cash flow.’ And when the change of speed is presumably being measured versus the pen and paper method some had reportedly resorted to, that ought to make a noticeable difference. Best of all, the missive is confirmation that the painstaking work being conducted in-house - with assistance from third-party cybersecurity specialists, the UK Government’s NCSC and law enforcement - is getting somewhere. Which is particularly heartening when you consider that some sourcesthat JLR will end up bearing the full cost of its cyber attack thanks to a lack of appropriate insurance cover. Those factories can’t come back online soon enough.
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