JLR confirms factories will reopen

Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed a gradual resumption of production at two of its UK plants next month.

Following robust safety guidelines, manufacturing will resume at its Solihull and Wolverhampton plants from 18 May, with about a quarter of employees returning to work.

A company statement said: “In China, we are beginning to see recovery in vehicle sales and customers are returning to our showrooms. Our joint venture plant in Changshu has been in operation since the middle of February.

“As countries are relaxing distancing guidelines and retailers are reopening around the world, the restart of production at our other plants will be confirmed in due course.

“The health and well-being of our employees is our first priority. We are developing robust protocol and guidelines to support a safe return to work. We will adopt strict social distancing measures across our business and are currently evaluating a number of different measures to ensure we protect and reassure our workforce when they begin to return to work.

“We continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation and follow the guidance of all relevant authorities in the markets in which we operate.”