UK government's promise of support for Jaguar Land Rover's suppliers remains unfulfilled. A £1.5bn loan guarantee, touted as a lifeline to the automotive giant's supply chain, has yet to be drawn down. Suppliers are livid, claiming the government took credit for their own efforts without delivering.
The crisis began in September when cyber-attackers crippled Jaguar Land Rover's systems, forcing it to shut its factories for over a month. The UK Export Finance (UKEF) guaranteed £1.5bn of loans to support JLR's cash reserves and supply chain. However, the money remains untouched, with suppliers still reeling from the shutdown.
Critics argue that the government's messaging was misleading, implying they played a key role in supporting JLR's supply chain when, in reality, the carmaker relied on its own resources to help its suppliers. Suppliers have been hit hard, laying off thousands of workers and struggling to make payments under their 60-day payment terms.
The Confederation of British Metalforming (CBM) has called for accelerated financial support to parts makers, warning that some will start feeling the worst financial pressure next week, two months after the attack halted orders. The CBM's president, Stephen Morley, said: "From September 1st, no matter when you get paid, there's no sales to invoice." He added that depending on payment terms, come November 1st, most invoices would have been due, which is a critical pinch point.
Despite the government's assurances, the reality remains that JLR has not drawn down any of the loan facility, and suppliers continue to struggle. The situation is being closely monitored by parliament's business select committee, with Labour MP Liam Byrne questioning why the government thought a loan guarantee was the best option to support the supply chain.
The crisis began in September when cyber-attackers crippled Jaguar Land Rover's systems, forcing it to shut its factories for over a month. The UK Export Finance (UKEF) guaranteed £1.5bn of loans to support JLR's cash reserves and supply chain. However, the money remains untouched, with suppliers still reeling from the shutdown.
Critics argue that the government's messaging was misleading, implying they played a key role in supporting JLR's supply chain when, in reality, the carmaker relied on its own resources to help its suppliers. Suppliers have been hit hard, laying off thousands of workers and struggling to make payments under their 60-day payment terms.
The Confederation of British Metalforming (CBM) has called for accelerated financial support to parts makers, warning that some will start feeling the worst financial pressure next week, two months after the attack halted orders. The CBM's president, Stephen Morley, said: "From September 1st, no matter when you get paid, there's no sales to invoice." He added that depending on payment terms, come November 1st, most invoices would have been due, which is a critical pinch point.
Despite the government's assurances, the reality remains that JLR has not drawn down any of the loan facility, and suppliers continue to struggle. The situation is being closely monitored by parliament's business select committee, with Labour MP Liam Byrne questioning why the government thought a loan guarantee was the best option to support the supply chain.
i mean, its one thing for the gov to promise help but when u dont deliver its just devastating for those suppliers theyre already in trouble with thousands of workers laid off and now they gotta deal with non payments 
and like u said they took credit for their own efforts lol what a mess u cant even make this stuff up 
not just throw a few bucks at it n say hey ur good now no u r on yer own its just not right
jlr's all like "oh no, we're shut down" but the gov is all like "hey guys, I've got your back"... 
newsflash: if you take credit for doing someone else's job without actually doing it, then don't be surprised when people get hurt 
The whole situation with Jaguar Land Rover's suppliers is super frustrating 
. I mean, you'd think that when your supplier's main customer gets hit by a cyber-attack, you'd be like "hang on a minute" 
and step up to help out. But nope, it seems like the UK government was all about touting the loan guarantee as some kind of magical solution 
, without actually doing much behind the scenes.
and their businesses on shaky ground 
. It's not just about the financial support either; it's about the message that the government sent out - that they were the ones who came to the rescue 
, when really, JLR was the one that should've been helping its suppliers out.
. The Confederation of British Metalforming's call for accelerated financial support is a good starting point, but it's only going to get worse if we don't do something soon 
.
.
This is so frustrating! The UK government promised financial lifeline to Jaguar Land Rover's suppliers but it seems they just took credit 
. We need urgent action to be taken to support these hardworking people 
Just wish they'd come clean about their role and stop taking credit for others' hard work 
. The fact that suppliers are having to lay off thousands of workers is just devastating 
.
. And now they're saying the loan guarantee is being monitored by parliament... yeah right, it's just an excuse for them to backpedal. We should be calling out the gov't for this one 
. By the way, 60-day payment terms? That's still way too long. Companies need cash flow ASAP, not months later 
suppliers are getting smashed while the UK gov promised them a lifeline and now nothing's happening! 
how can u just promise something like that and not deliver? 
. They took all the credit for helping out without actually following through on their promises. It's not exactly fair to the suppliers who are already struggling to make ends meet 
. Maybe instead of just throwing money around, they should be looking at ways to strengthen the supply chain in the first place 
.
the cbm's president saying that most invoices would have been due by november 1st is like, no sales = no payments = financial disaster 
this is absolute rubbish 
and some suppliers are literally gonna lose their shirts 
.
i hope the gov gets its act together and starts supporting these suppliers ASAP 
. I don't get why you'd think a loan guarantee was the answer when JLR itself wasn't even drawing down the cash 
. And the timing is just awful - when you're already struggling to make payments and then BAM! You're told there's no sales to invoice come November 1st? That's like a ticking time bomb 
.