Cybersecurity
JLR restarts manufacturing operations and announces financing scheme for suppliers
JLR has announced that, as of October 8, it has restarted manufacturing operations at two UK sites in the wake of a disruptive cyber incident, and is "fast-tracking" a new financing scheme that "will provide qualifying JLR suppliers with cash‑up‑front during the production restart phase".
The "phased restart" began at JLR's Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre (EPMC), where it builds engines, and its Battery Assembly Centre (BAC). These sites, both in the West Midlands, have been operational since October 8, with JLR staff also returning to work at its stamping operations in Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull.
Staff have also returned at other key areas of JLR's Solihull vehicle production plant including its body shop, paint shop and its Logistics Operations Centre (LOC). This activity, JLR has said, will be "closely followed" by vehicle manufacturing in Nitra, Slovakia, and the restart of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport (MLA) production lines in Solihull.
JLR first announced on September 2, 2025 that it had been forced to shut down its global IT systems after a cyber incident, leading to a halt in production. Then on September 23, it informed colleagues, suppliers and partners that this pause in production would be extended until October 1. Now, it is has restarted production, but for some in the supply chain the impact has already been felt.
To mitigate this disruption, the UK Department for Business and Trade has announced that it would support JLR with a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) loan to “give certainty to its supply chain” in the wake of the cyber incident. “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,” business and trade secretary Peter Kyle said.
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“Providing support directly to supply chain firms is actually tricky as JLR didn’t have much of a map of the supply chain beyond its first- and second-tier suppliers,” said David Bailey, professor of business economics at the Birmingham Business School. This lack of a complete map of its supply chain could make distributing support difficult, even with financial support from the government.
“The SMMT Forum has been working with the firm to build a better picture. Guaranteeing a loan via JLR gets cash into the supply chain but ensuring that the cash cascades down the supply [chain] will be vital,” Bailey added.
JLR shared more on this matter in a statement on October 7, alongside the announcement of its operational restart. It said that it is "now fast‑tracking a new financing scheme that will provide qualifying JLR suppliers with cash‑up‑front during the production restart phase".
This scheme, the company claimed, will allow qualifying suppliers to be paid "much faster than under their standard payment terms". JLR added that after an initial phase prioritising suppliers "critical to the restart of production", the scheme will be expanded, including to some non‑production suppliers.
"Our suppliers are central to our success, and... we are launching a new financing arrangement that will enable us to pay our suppliers early, using the strength of our balance sheet to support their cashflows," Adrian Mardell, CEO of JLR, stated. "I would like to thank everyone connected to JLR for their commitment, hard work and endeavour in recent weeks to bring us to this moment. We know there is much more to do but our recovery is firmly underway.”
Ripples through the supply chain
Shutting down production for weeks hasn’t just affected JLR, but also its partners and suppliers. With JLR operating three factories in the West Midlands, a recent snap survey of 84 businesses conducted by the Black Country, Greater Birmingham and Coventry and Warwickshire Chambers of Commerce found that 77% had been negatively impacted by the cyberattack.
As a result, 35% reported that they’d already reduced staff hours or asked staff not to work temporarily, while 14% were already in the process of making redundancies.
“The Black Country's automotive supply chain employs 13,000 people so the ripple effects of this cyber-attack are being felt right across our business community,” said Sarah Moorhouse, chief executive of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce. “What these initial survey results show is that this isn't just about JLR – it's about the suppliers, manufacturers and service providers that make the Black Country the powerhouse of UK automotive production.”
One company in the area which has felt the effects of the shutdown is Walsall-based press work company Genex UK, a small firm with 17 employees which provides parts for several tier 1 JLR suppliers. “We’ve kept working, building some stock to keep our employees in work, but we’ve run out of space and material,” explained Michael Beese, managing director of Genex UK. “I have now laid off staff due to the uncertain short-term future.”
And it’s not just the West Midlands that will have been affected. Suppliers around the UK and globally will have been struggling with the same issues since the cyber incident. “A key lesson in all of this is to have a policy toolkit available to be drawn on ‘off the shelf’ in response to major shocks, using actions like loan guarantees,” said David Bailey, professor of business economics at the Birmingham Business School. “That was a key finding from our work on MG Rover in the wake of its 2005 collapse, and during the financial crisis.”
Employee impact
A major concern has been the job security of JLR employees, and those in its wider supplier chain that will have been affected by the halt in production. JLR employs around 40,000 people worldwide and already announced that 500 management jobs would be cut in the UK prior to the cyber incident. This announcement came in July, as the company revealed its profits had almost halved due to the impact of US tariffs.
On September 17, before the announcement of the government’s loan to support JLR, trade union Unite issued a statement claiming that workers throughout the JLR supply chain were being laid off with reduced or zero pay, with some being advised to sign up for universal credit. “Workers in the JLR supply chain must not be made to pay the price for the cyberattack,” said Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite.
After the loan was announced, Unite’s Graham responded: “This is an important first step and demonstrates that the government has listened to the concerns raised in meetings with Unite over recent days. This is exactly what the government should be doing, taking action to protect jobs.”
She added: “The money provided must now be used to ensure job guarantees and to also protect skills and pay in JLR and its supply chain.”
