Chancellor welcomes Bentley's plans to build new research and development centre
Bentley plans to build new research and development centre as part of £840 million UK site expansion, creating nearly 1,000 new jobs.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, today (4 December 2014) visited Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe to welcome the company’s announcement to build a new £40 million engineering, research and development centre as part of a wider £840 million investment programme.
The decision, following the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement yesterday in which further support for research and development was announced, will see the creation of 300 additional jobs at the Crewe site bringing the total number of jobs due to be created close to 1,000 (950).
Bentley Motors, founded nearly a century ago, is one of the world’s most iconic luxury car brands and employs 3,700 people at its Crewe headquarters. Last year, the company delivered more cars than ever before and expects to break that figure in 2014.
As part of the visit the Chancellor met with the company’s management team before meeting workers while on a tour of the production line.
The visit formed the first of the Chancellor’s regional tours aimed at highlighting the policies announced in Autumn Statement 2014.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne said:
Bentley is an iconic British Brand that exports around the world. Their decision to create another 300 jobs in R&D on a new site providing close to 1,000 new jobs is fantastic news for Crewe and for Britain.
These highly skilled jobs in this export industry are exactly the kind of opportunities we want to see created which is why in yesterday’s Autumn Statement I provided further incentives for R&D in the UK.
The investment will not only create jobs at Bentley, but support many more through suppliers across the UK.
I want Britain to be a country where companies want to invest and create jobs, as Bentley is doing today.
Wolfgang Dürheimer, Chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, said:
With Bentley’s new engineering and research and development centre, we will develop a new generation of Bentleys, which will continue our commitment of luxury, performance, quality and engineering excellence.
Bentley is the number one luxury car manufacturer in the world and driving more investment into our headquarters and attracting talent is key to continuing our success.
Photo courtesy of Rami on Flickr, used under Creative Commons.