McLaren looking to double its composites centre workforce

The British luxury supercar maker is looking to increase staff at its new £50m innovation and manufacturing facility in Yorkshire in the North of England.

Mclaren are looking for applicants with experience in a wide variety of sectors from boat-building to the textiles trade and sporting goods industries are being encouraged to apply for the next wave of jobs, apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships that will help double the workforce at the McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC) to over 200 by the time it is in full production next year.

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 company’s McLaren Production Centre, around 170 miles away in Woking, Surrey. There the rest of the cars powertrain, gearbox, body panels, electrical systems, wheels and tyres will be added before being exported to over 32 territories around the world.

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. Mike Flewitt, Chief Executive, McLaren Automotive

McLaren’s ability to tap into the Sheffield region’s extensive materials expertise, skills and universities will help it to innovate quickly and continue to be the lightest in their class. The target is that the MCTC will deliver £100m of gross value-added benefit to the local economy by 2028 as well as supporting skills development in the region.

Well over 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 to the day since 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 CEO Mike Flewitt.