- Jaguar Land Rover announces 'phased restart' of factories.
- British Government guaranteeing loans to keep suppliers in business.
- Cyber attack on August 31 shut down all plants globally.
Jaguar Land Rover has made a brief and cautious announcement that it will undertake a "controlled, phased restart" of its factory operations following a cyber attack on August 31 that shut it down.
"Some sections of our manufacturing operations will resume in the coming days," said a company statement yesterday (September 29). "We continue to work around the clock alongside cybersecurity specialists, the UK Government’s NCSC and law enforcement to ensure our restart is done in a safe and secure manner."
British media is reporting that engine operations at Wolverhampton will likely be first to resume, but a complete reboot across all factories could still be weeks or even months away.
About 30,000 people are employed directly by JLR in the UK, but an even larger issue is the supply chain around production, which involves approximately 100,000 workers in other companies.
The British Government has agreed to underwrite 1.5 billion pounds (NZ$3.48bn) of loans for the company, on the stipulation that UK suppliers will be prioritised.
The shutdown affected JLR's global operations: not just its three plants in the UK, but also manufacturing in China, Slovakia, India and Brazil, after its IT systems were disabled by the attack.