Britain’s opposition Labour party has commissioned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) executive director Mike Wright to produce a comprehensive review of Britain’s manufacturing supply chains.
According to the Daily Telegraph, The so-called Wright Review, which is expected to be announced at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton on Monday (23 September), has been tasked with recommending ways for the government to help revitalise UK supply chains in the long-term. The areas of research include developing advanced skills and access to finance as well as boosting productivity in the sector.
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Labour’s shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna told the Daily Telegraph: “Take the automotive sector, which is obviously JLR’s area of expertise, we are fantastic at assembly and exporting the cars here in the UK.
“But we aren’t as good at manufacturing all the parts because we haven’t sufficiently developed our supply chain. Too many of the parts are coming from abroad. So we’ve commissioned Mike to look into our supply chain and ensure that we’ve got the right environment to develop it.
“That will include the particular problems suppliers have in accessing finance, the productivity in the sector, and how we can make sure people have got the skills that are needed.”
Wright, who will not be paid for his work, started his career at Rover Triumph in 1975 and has held several senior sales and marketing positions in the UK and abroad, including four years in Germany.
He was appointed to the JLR executive committee in 2002 and was one of the executives responsible for transferring Jaguar and Land Rover from the ownership of Ford to Tata when the companies were sold in 2008, the paper noted.
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