Jobs Boost for Vauxhall Ellesmere Port

20 May 2014, 17:32 | Updated: 20 May 2014, 17:37

General Motors UK tell Heart that they plan to return to 3 shifts next year

The Cheshire factory is due to become one of only two factories in Europe, six Globally, who will produce Vauxhall's next car which starts in production next year.

Vauxhall HR Director Phil Millward has been telling Heart: "We're working on the launch of the next vehicle, we are confident in 2016 we'll be returning back to three shifts and full employment which will give people in the local area the chance to work for us."

The Ellesmere Port factory had a dark cloud over it just a few years ago, with worries of buy-outs and closure.  However after consistantly good results from the site, and workers agreeing to a different way of working, Phil Millward who himself started as an apprentice at Ellesmere Port, says the future is better:  "As a company, Vauxhall are doing exceptionally well, you can see the economy is now growing at pace and I think confidence is growing at pace, you can see that in the people who are coming into our showrooms and buying our products.

The news comes as the factory opens a new Learning Centre with the Unite Union and West Cheshire College, to allow workers to get qualifications.  Unite Convenor John Copper has told Heart: "It's an effort to up-skill our members in a positive manner. "We're in business to build cars here and if this helps us build better cars and more cars and earn our people more money with greater job security, that's one we're going to go with."