Gestamp Tallent is to recruit 60 workers in Carmarthenshire after a £10 million investment in a new hot-metal press line that will enable the company’s Llanelli plant to supply parts to Jaguar Land Rover as part of a new five-year deal.
Gestamp said that the new press, which produces stronger and lighter components than those produced by a traditional cold-metal pressing process, has the capacity to produce two million individual parts a year and will produce structural components for the new Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover products, as well
as the new Jaguar XE model.
Economy Minister Edwina Hart, who officially ‘launched’ the new press, described the investment as a significant milestone in the transformation of the plant. Ms Hart said: “This is tremendously good news for the company, for Llanelli and for the automotive sector in Wales. I am delighted that this significant investment has been supported by the Welsh Assembly Government, which helped bring this very important project to Llanelli, securing its future here and opening up new business opportunities.
“Just five years ago, the plant was facing closure, but it is now a thriving business employing 400 people, with 60 more jobs on the way. The transformation of its fortunes began when it was acquired by Gestamp in 2011; the following year, I was pleased to announce a £3.4 million grant from the Wales Economic Growth Fund towards a £12 million investment in ‘state of the art’ robotics, which safeguarded 300 jobs. That marked the start of a new era for the plant, and today we have reached another milestone.”
The new line forms part of a “suite of new technology investment” at the plant, including high-precision lasers; the building is also undergoing refurbishment. Gestamp Tallent is a subsidiary of Gestamp Automocion, which is based in the Basque region of northern Spain.