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McLaren seeks new recruits for Yorkshire supercar site
McLaren Automotive is planning to more than double the size of its workforce at the firm’s new £50m innovation and manufacturing facility in Yorkshire.
The McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC) hopes that this newest wave of recruitment will increase its employees to over 200 by the time the site is in full production next year. It also aims to deliver £100m of gross value-added benefit to the local economy by 2028, as well as supporting skills development in the region.
McLaren Automotive is planning to more than double the size of its workforce at the firm’s new £50m facility in Yorkshire / McLaren Automotive
Candidates with experience in sectors such as boat-building, the textiles trade and sporting goods industries are being encouraged to apply for this latest set of jobs, apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships. Although not typically associated with automotive manufacturing, these specific skills are desired because materials like carbon fibre start life as a fabric that has to be cut, put into moulds, and then treated through a variety of processes, before becoming a hard material.
McLaren has been a pioneer with ultra-lightweight, ultra-strong carbon fibre material for decades and builds every car with a carbon fibre chassis, or ‘tub’, at its core. Lighter, composite materials, together with future powertrain technology, save vehicle weight, boost performance and provide more energy-efficient supercars.
The new roles that are set to be phased in next year will all help to make the next generation of McLaren carbon fibre tubs that will then be sent to the McLaren Production Centre, around 170 miles away in Woking, Surrey.
There, the rest of the cars – including powertrain, gearbox, body panels, electrical systems, wheels and Pirelli tyres – will be added by hand before being exported to over 32 territories around the world.
Candidates from a variety of industries are being encouraged to apply for this latest set of jobs, apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships / Picture: McLaren Automotive
More than 90 per cent of just over 4,800 cars made last year by the firm were exported, meaning the new Yorkshire recruits will get to work on some of the most advanced and admired cars in the world.
The announcement of the new roles comes a year after the MCTC, built on the regenerated site of a former opencast coal mine, was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Bahrain, alongside McLaren chief executive, Mike Flewitt.
Mike Flewitt, chief executive of McLaren Automotive, said: “As we’re working with advanced, lightweight materials in new ways that have never been used before on this scale for car production, McLaren is looking for a range of skills you wouldn’t normally associate with the automotive industry.
“We’re also looking to hire apprentices and degree apprentices. The advanced technologies and processes they will be working on could one day be used in other industries to produce lighter, and therefore more efficient, vehicles which will not only help McLaren to continue to innovate, but the UK to become a global leader in composite materials expertise.”