Business Secretary co-chairs his first Automotive Council meeting
Dr Cable responded to the news while attending his first meeting of the Automotive Council as co-chair. The Council was set up to look at the…
Dr Cable responded to the news while attending his first meeting of the Automotive Council as co-chair. The Council was set up to look at the long term strategic development of the UK automotive industry. Expanding and growing the UK’s supply chain is a key objective of one of the Council’s working groups which is chaired by Bill Parfitt from GM UK.
The Business Secretary said: “The Automotive Council is a good model of how sectors can work in partnership with the Government to tackle issues strategically. This is the sort of relationship I want Government to have with industry and this Council’s approach is one that could be used by other sectors particularly those that use low carbon technology.
“I’m delighted that SMEs in the UK will benefit from these contracts from GM. It shows that they can compete and win business from big corporate companies that trade all over the world.”
Bill Parfitt, Chairman & CEO of Vauxhall Motors and GM UK who also chairs the Automotive Council Supply Chain Group said: “The creation of the Automotive Council and the renewed focus on manufacturing has re-emphasised that the UK is a key sourcing location.
“We were able to award these contracts because of the excellent quality, lower transportation costs and because each contract showed a beneficial business case.”
These contracts will be worth over £100m in total over the life of the contracts.
Notes to editors:
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The Automotive Council was announced on 12 November 2009 as part of the previous Government’s response to recommendations made in the industry-led report from the New Automotive Innovation and Growth Team (NAIGT). NAIGT was chaired by Richard Parry-Jones. It had its first meeting in December 2009. Its main aims are to enhance the attractiveness of the UK as a location for global automotive investment, promote UK-based manufacturers and technologies and strengthen the supply chain, and position the UK as a leading global player in developing ultra-low carbon technologies.
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The Automotive Council is co-chaired by the Business Secretary Vince Cable and Richard Parry-Jones. It has two sub-Groups - the Supply Chain Group chaired by Bill Parfitt (GMUK) and the Technology Group is chaired by Jerry Hardcastle (Nissan).
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High resolution images will be available from the BIS Flickr website following the event. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/bisgovuk/
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BIS’ online newsroom contains the latest press notices, speeches, as well as video and images for download. It also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom for more information.
Notes to Editors
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