Aston Martin to 'cut 200 jobs' at site in St Athan

  • ITV Wales' Work and Economy Correspondent Carole Green describes what the announcement means for the site

An estimated 200 jobs are to go at Aston Martin's car plant in the Vale of Glamorgan.

In a statement, the company said in order to "secure the future" of its manufacturing facilities, it "continues to execute on actions to improve the cost efficiency of the business."

The factory in Barry opened in December 2019 and was supposed to create 600 jobs in 2020, with this rising to 750 in 2021. But, the number of vehicles sold by Aston Martin almost halved in the first three months of last year, leading to the announcement of 500 job losses across the UK.

The Welsh Government gave a number of grants to attract the carmaker to the Vale of Glamorgan ahead of its decision to set up in Wales.

The company's first SUV, the DBX, came off the production line at the site last summer.

Union Unite said it was "deeply concerned" by the news and added it was engaged in consultation with a view to "reducing the impact of the redundancies across the entire workforce."

The pandemic came after a dire year for Aston Martin, which announced losses of £104.3 million in 2019.

In response to the news Plaid Cymru Leader, Adam Price MS said it was "dreadful news" for the workers and claimed the Welsh Government has some "serious questions to answer".

"They will be needing support in the coming weeks and months, particularly as we’re still in a pandemic", he said.

“It’s nothing short of a scandal that millions of pounds of taxpayers money has been thrown at Aston Martin by the Labour Welsh Government and the plant in St Athan only for it to be thrown back in their faces by cutting almost 200 jobs.

“We need to see some transparency here; the Welsh public have right to know the details of the Welsh Government’s deal with Aston Martin, and implications for public spending if they decide to leave the St Athan plant.

“We have known for some time the financial troubles facing Aston Martin - the Minister has serious questions to answer as to whether or not Welsh Government were aware of potential job losses.

The company added it has issued redundancy notices for its facility in St Athan and launched a consultation process.

"Aston Martin can confirm that it is also looking to release contractors at its St Athan facility", it added.