Alan Volkaerts is to leave his role as operations director at Jaguar Land Rover’s Lode Lane plant in Solihull, after seven years during which the company has undergone massive change.

He is to take up a new role at the company’s Gaydon site, where he will oversee the development of new Land Rover models. His successor at Solihull will be Nigel Blenkinsop, who joined the company three years ago. He will assume responsibility for Lode Lane when Mr Volkaerts moves on at the end of the month.

Mr Volkaerts said: “Looking back, it’s been a momentous seven years. When I first started here, the industry was in a difficult position, and the company itself was at a crossroads; there was even talk of us having to close one of our Midlands factories. When you think about it now, that seems incredible; the transition that has taken place here is nothing short of amazing.”

During the seven years that Mr Volkaerts has been in charge at Solihull, JLR has invested more than £1 billion in the site. There have been new production facilities for the all-new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, then for the Jaguar XE, which is now being followed by the Jaguar cross-over vehicle, the F-Pace.

Meanwhile, production volumes have almost trebled, and the plant’s workforce has more than doubled in size — from just over 4,000 to 9,500.