Jaguar Land Rover - Halewood

Union vows to convert Halewood agency contracts at Jaguar Land Rover into permanent jobs

Jaguar Land Rover has begun to recruit 1,000 new staff for the launch of its prestige Range Rover Evoque in Merseyside.

But the company revealed most will be temporary contracts working for recruitment agency Manpower.

But union leaders revealed once the “baby Range Rover” reaches full production next year, alongside the Halewood plant’s successful Land Rover Freelander 2 model, they have a deal with management to open talks on converting the temporary posts into permanent Land Rover jobs.

Dave Osborne, national car industry spokesman for Unite said he rated their chances “very probable”.

JLR announced the start of recruitment yesterday, saying a small number of the 1,000 jobs will be engineering or supervisory staff taken on by the company.

A Halewood spokeswoman said the majority will be production line workers recruited by Manpower. She could not reveal the exact number involved or the length of their contracts.

Mr Osborne said: “An agreement was reached between the company and the union in Halewood.

“Part of the agreement was to bring them (staff) in on temporary contracts in the build-up to the launch.

“Once the car is launched – and we are also looking at the market recovering for Freelander as well – we see the opportunity to convert them to permanent JLR employees as being very probable.”

He said the recruitment drive was “welcome news and secures Halewood’s long-term future”.

Ralf Speth, JLR chief executive, said: “The Range Rover Evoque is a significant step in the company’s plan to grow the JLR business.

“It is a truly global car and will be sold in over 160 markets around the world. Around 85% of the models built at Halewood will be exported, making a significant contribution to the UK economy.”

The Evoque was first unveiled as the LRX concept car.

Plant director Michael Straughan added: “Halewood has a reputation for excellent manufacturing quality and is recognised throughout the industry as a centre of excellence for lean manufacturing.

“The Range Rover Evoque has been eagerly anticipated since we first showed the LRX concept in Detroit in 2008, so we are looking forward to welcoming some enthusiastic new recruits to the team to deliver the Range Rover Evoque to the marketplace.”

The Evoque is the smallest, lightest, most fuel-efficient Range Rover and will make its public debut next Thursday in Paris.