M-Sport to cut 63 jobs in latest Covid-19 blow
M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson OBE has described the move to make 63 employees redundant as the 'hardest point' in his 40 year career.
The company said the job losses, which are more than a quarter of the workforce, are due to the cancellation of rally-car events following the coronavirus outbreak.
M-Sport is continuing with plans for a multi-million pounds vehicle evaluation centre on the site, which is due to open in a few weeks' time.
The company, based in Dovenby, near Cockermouth, had a workforce of 238 before the cuts.
M-Sport Managing Director, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said: “This has been the hardest point in my 40 years in business.
"With no competition and delays in getting the new M-Sport Evaluation Centre up and running some tough decisions have had to be made, and we have sadly had to make 63 redundancies to safeguard the future of the company.
“The Bentley race programme has been reduced and the Jaguar I-PACE project has been cancelled for 2021, but we’ve overcome tough times before and I’m fully committed to doing that again.
"We’ve won the tender to provide a new TOCA BTCC engine for 2022, and once the Evaluation Centre is operational I’m confident that we can come out the other side and continue to provide for the area.”
M-Sport is in the process of building a new Evaluation Centre, which they have said will go ahead. A spokesperson from the company added: "The M-Sport Evaluation Centre is considered integral to the future of the business so work on this has continued throughout.
"Plans remain on course, and once the facility is up and running it will create further jobs in the local area."