Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, took part in a roundtable discussion with Jaguar Land Rover, during which he heard discussions for prospects for growth, innovation and job creation by the company.
The discussion, attended by a number of MPs and representatives from JLR, highlighted the status of action which supported supply chain skills and their plans for the next few years in relation to research and development, with aims of becoming a world leader in advanced manufacturing through creating and manufacturing.
One of the main concerns that JLR have is the need to reduce the deficit of graduate engineers. Gavin has previously spoken in Parliament about the importance of increasing apprenticeships and encouraging more people to take up engineering degrees.
Gavin said: “I want to see the Government directing more resources to help businesses such as JLR expand and grow and one of the best ways to do that is by ensuring that people of all ages have the right skills in order to fill the jobs that are available. JLR has already brought 1,500 jobs to South Staffordshire and it’s important that job creation such as this continues, both here in the constituency and across the country.
“JLR is the UK’s largest industrial investor in research and development. It is vital that research and development is based here and in the rest of the UK, because if we can get businesses to invest in R & D in the UK, they will often base their manufacturing here, too. It’s so important that, in this area of industry where we already have such a competitive advantage, we do everything we can to see it develop and grow.”