EXCLUSIVE Lotus could axe up to 30% of jobs at Norfolk factory after labour costs hike

Daily Mail​

3 days ago

Nearly 400 jobs are at risk at Lotus as the car maker becomes the latest household name to look at slashing its workforce.
The Mail understands the sports car specialist could cut 'up to 30 per cent' of jobs at its factory in Hethel in Norfolk in a bid to save money.
That amounts to as many as 390 of its 1,300 staff with a decision expected to be made within the next three months.
The prospect of job losses at Lotus comes just days after it emerged that Nissan is planning to lay off 250 workers at Britain's biggest car plant in Sunderland.
And accounts for shoe retailer Clarks this week revealed that it shed more than 1,200 jobs last year amid 'very cautious' consumer spending as sales fell by more than £90million.
The wave of job losses will raise fresh questions over Rachel Reeves's handling of the economy as business and household confidence collapses in the wake of her tax-raising Budget.
Labour's capitulation on welfare reform has blown another £5billion hole in her Budget numbers – making further tax hikes this autumn ever more likely.
Donald Trump's erratic trade policies – and the imposition of punitive tariffs on British cars and steel entering the US – are also taking their toll.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey this week sounded the alarm over job losses across Britain.
He said the labour market was 'weakening' and the uncertainty was taking its toll on UK investment and business growth.
'That increase in uncertainty and predictability is definitely coming through in terms of activity and growth,' Bailey said in an interview with broadcaster CNBC from a summit in Portugal.
'When I go around the country talking to businesses, which I do a lot, what they tell me is that they are putting off investment decisions.
'I do see some underlying weakening, particularly in the labour market.'
Lotus, which is majority owned by Chinese carmaker Geely, has denied recent reports that it was planning to shutter its factory in Hethel and move production to the US.
The reports sparked a frantic intervention by the government to prevent the factory being earmarked for closure.
Executives at the company held a meeting with business secretary Jonathan Reynolds on Sunday to discuss possible support measures.
But despite hopes the factory will stay open, sources told the Mail job losses remain on the cards.
A source familiar with the matter also said the trade deal signed between the US and the UK - which came into effect on Monday and reduces American tariffs on British cars to from 27.5 to 10 per cent - would not stave off the planned job cuts.