Firm commits to delivering 1,200 jobs at former coal terminal
Executives and union leaders met in Glasgow to finalise the agreement as GMB, one of the biggest unions across the UK energy sector, urged UK and Scottish ministers to help accelerate the development.
GMB Scotland secretary Louise Gilmour said the ground-breaking agreement shows how the voice of workers and their communities can be harnessed to help create new jobs in green energy.
A future look at the HDVC manufacturing site at Hunterston (Image: XLCC)
She said: 'Too many workers believe the transition to renewables is being done to them, not with them.
'That must change and this agreement shows how. The voice of workers must shape industrial strategy and energy policies if our country is ever to turn talk into jobs.
'Only genuine and effective cooperation between industry, unions, and governments can help deliver the transformation needed in our manufacturing supply chains.
'We share the ambition of XLCC to create good, unionised jobs in Ayrshire and hope innovative agreements like this can be a template to help secure a new industrial future.'
READ MORE:
GMB said the UK Government's promise to create 650,000 new high-quality jobs will rest on harnessing the combined strength of industry and workers, and urged governments on both sides of the border to support the proposed cable plant at Hunterston.
The agreement details how the business and union will work together to campaign for the development while building industry-leading industrial relations. The agreement is intended to pave the way to a full recognition agreement with collective bargaining as the workforce grows.
XLCC chief executive Ian Douglas said: "This agreement is a significant step forward as we work to establish a new UK-based supply chain for HVDC subsea cable manufacturing.
'Our investment at Hunterston will create up to 1,200 skilled jobs and place Ayrshire at the heart of the UK's energy transition. This is a truly transformative opportunity for community and country.
'We're proud to be working in partnership with GMB to ensure these jobs offer long-term, high-quality opportunities in a growing global industry.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
40 minutes ago
- BBC News
Welfare U-turn makes spending decisions harder, minister says
Spending decisions have been made "harder" by the government's U-turn on welfare changes, the education secretary has said, as she did not commit to scrapping the two-child benefit Phillipson told BBC One's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme that ministers were "looking at every lever" to lift children out of she said removing the cap would "come at a cost" and insisted the government was supporting families with the cost of living in other comes after a rebellion of Labour MPs forced the government to significantly water down a package of welfare reforms that would have saved £5bn a year by 2030. The climbdown means the savings will now be delayed or lost entirely, which puts pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of the autumn its retreat on benefits, the Labour government was considering lifting the two-child benefit cap, a policy that restricts means-tested benefits to a maximum of two children per family for those born after April asked if the chances of getting rid of the cap had diminished, Phillipson said: "The decisions that have been taken in the last week do make decisions, future decisions harder."But all of that said, we will look at this collectively in terms of all of the ways that we can lift children out of poverty."
Powys County Times
44 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Shona Robison urges Prime Minister to follow Scotland on taxation
Scotland's Finance Secretary said Labour needs a 'new direction' as she called on the Prime Minister to look north of the border for a more progressive tax system to protect public spending. Ms Robison said that if Labour had followed the Scottish model, where higher earners pay more tax, Labour would not be in the 'complete fiscal mess that they are in now.' Her comments come after Sir Keir Starmer's Government was forced into a last-minute climbdown in order for welfare legislation to pass its first parliamentary hurdle earlier this week. In a late concession on Tuesday evening, ministers shelved plans to restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment (Pip), with any changes now only coming after a review of the benefit. These changes are expected to put pressure on other parts of the Government's finances. Ms Robison said: 'People voted for a Labour government last year because they wanted change from the Tories – but after a year of attacks on the incomes of pensioners, the poor and the disabled, they are rightly wondering exactly what, if anything, is different. 'When Keir Starmer took office, he could have chosen to ask people on higher incomes to pay a little more in tax in order to protect public spending. 'Choosing instead to target the vulnerable is not leadership – frankly, it is political cowardice. 'If Keir Starmer had done in England what the SNP have done in Scotland with taxation, Labour would not be in the complete fiscal mess that they are in now. 'After a year of mistakes, Labour needs a new direction – and they should look to Scotland. By asking people on higher incomes to pay a bit more in tax, we have ensured a majority of taxpayers pay less than they would elsewhere in the UK, and are able to unlock more spending for services like the NHS, as well as cut poverty by introducing a Scottish Child Payment, and ensure that everybody can benefit from important services like free tuition and free prescriptions.' She added: 'Labour used to tell Scotland that we didn't need independence and we just needed to get rid of the Tory government – but the last year has completely demolished that argument. 'No Westminster government will ever deliver the truly fair society which I believe the vast majority of people in Scotland want to live in – and that is why independence is the best future for Scotland.' Scottish Labour's economy, business and fair work spokesperson Daniel Johnson MSP said: 'SNP ministers have a brass neck to think they can lecture anyone after their atrocious financial mismanagement. 'The SNP use higher taxes on Scottish nurses and firefighters as a substitute for economic growth, waste billions on out-of-control prison and ferry projects, and have created multibillion-pound black holes in the public finances. 'Labour is delivering the largest funding settlement in the history of devolution, with £50 billion for Scotland's NHS, schools and public services this year alone. Despite that, the SNP are now gearing up to make cuts to fill their fiscal black hole. 'The SNP government has the money, they have the powers, but they are out of ideas, out of excuses and out of time. 'Next year, we have the chance to kick out this SNP Government that cannot be trusted with taxpayers' money.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Bikers ‘don't want to go electric'
Bikers 'aren't ready' to accept electric motorbikes yet, the bosses of Norton Motorcycles have said, forcing the British marque to park its ambition to start selling the vehicles. Richard Arnold and Nevijo Mance, the senior directors at the Midlands company, said engineers had developed a 'spectacular' electric prototype, but there wasn't enough demand to justify commercialising it. With partners including Warwick University, Norton was handed £8.5m of taxpayers' cash from the Advanced Propulsion Centre to develop an electric superbike three years ago in a scheme codenamed 'Project Zen'. But as the company prepares for a major relaunch this year with up to six new motorcycle variants, Mr Arnold said there were no plans for the electric prototype to move into production. He said: 'That project reached a successful conclusion but is not being taken to market because there isn't massive demand at this time for electric superbikes. 'The performance is spectacular. There's a lot of technological innovations within it, a lot of design innovations within it. 'But there is a question – the people that have sought to bring electric bikes to market, has the demand been good or bad? And the demand has been bad. 'You can develop as many products as you want. But we have to make sure that they're ones consumers want to buy, and the evidence to date is that this is something consumers aren't ready for.' Mr Mance added that calls to end sales of internal combustion engine (ICE) motorbikes were 'premature' and that he expected the company would continue making them for another '10 or 20 years' at least. The manufacturing boss, who previously worked at Jaguar Land Rover, said: 'I'm coming from the perspective of 30 years in the automotive business, where a lot of companies went all-in on electrification. 'I don't know any company which now says that was the right decision. 'A lot of them are struggling because the expense of the cars are much more than customers are willing to accept.' Sales slump Their decision comes after underwhelming sales of electric motorcycles by other major brands so far. Harley-Davidson, the American motorcycle giant, reported sales of just 33 bikes through its electric LiveWire brand in the first quarter of 2025, down by 72pc compared to a year earlier. In the British market, meanwhile, sales of electric scooters and motorcycles fell 7.7pc to 3,750 last year. Norton's chrome-clad motorcycles have typically been at the premium end of the market. The company's Commando 961 motorbike starts at £17,000, while its V4 superbikes start at £42,000. At its factory in Solihull, West Midlands, it produces a few hundred bikes per year by hand. But following more than £150m of investment by Indian owner TVS, Norton is preparing to expand and ramp up to thousands per year. At the same time, it is preparing to revamp its product line-up. One of the new bikes will be an updated V4 superbike but details about the rest remain under strict secrecy. At least one will be a lower-priced bike produced in large volumes, probably in India, according to Sudarshan Venu, the boss of TVS Motor. 'We'll definitely have a differentiated retail strategy in India covering Norton ... This will help connect with the growing middle-class and top-end segments who buy sports cars and other high-end vehicles,' he said in an interview with CNBC. 'We will start with a capacity of close to 10,000 vehicles ... with four models going up to six models.' It is also possible Norton will open a US factory to produce bikes for domestic sale to avoid Donald Trump's tariffs, Mr Arnold said. Norton started as a bicycle parts manufacturer in Birmingham in 1898, before moving into making motorcycles. Alongside rival brand Triumph, the company would go on to make motorcycles for the British military during the Second World War and later became known for its racing bikes in the post-war years. Celebrity fans of the brand have included Steve McQueen, although it was a Triumph he rode in the film The Great Escape, as well as American actors Clint Eastwood and Keanu Reeves. It was purchased by Stuart Garner, a Midlands-based entrepreneur and property developer, in 2008. But by 2020, the company had fallen on hard times and was forced to call in the administrators because of unpaid tax bills. It was bought out of administration by Chennai-headquartered TVS, one of the world's leading two-wheeler manufacturers, which agreed to invest £100m and build the new plant in Solihull. The company has since re-engineered the £44,000 Norton V4SV superbike and fixed issues with the Garner-era Commando 961.
