Last Saturday I visited Jaguar Land Rover alongside 7,000 staff members and families for their 60^th anniversary Proud Creators Day celebration. The facility was opened on October 2nd 1963 to produce the Ford Anglia, with Harold Wilson instrumental in bringing the plant to Halewood.

The open day was a chance for guests to see around the JLR facility and follow the journey of one of their vehicles from arriving into the plant as a roll of steel through to rolling off the production line later as a finished Discovery Sport or Evoque model.

JLR is one of the major employers in Garston and Halewood and give a big boost to the entire city region’s economy, a global brand built on the expertise of its 7,000 strong local workforce. The celebration day showcased the size and scope of JLR’s facility, which when running at full capacity turns out a car, built to individual specifications, every 88 seconds.

JLR is looking to the future with its transition to the electric vehicles (EV) that will replace production of internal combustion engine models by 2025. This transition is important to keep the business in Halewood, where we need good manufacturing jobs, and it was great to hear about the investment in the plant being made that will ensure its future here for many years to come.