The government will underwrite a £1.5bn loan guarantee to Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in a bid to support its suppliers as a cyber-attack continues to halt production at the car maker.Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the loan, from a commercial bank, would protect jobs in the West Midlands, Merseyside and across the UK.The manufacturer has been forced to suspend production for weeks after being targeted by hackers at the end of August.There have been growing concerns some suppliers, mostly small businesses, could go bust due to the prolonged shutdown.
About 30,000 people are directly employed at the company’s UK plants with about 100,000 working for firms in the supply chain. Some of these firms supply parts exclusively to JLR, while others sell components to other carmakers as well.It is believed to be the first time that a company has received government help as a result of a cyber-attack.It is hoped the loan will give suppliers some certainty as the shutdown continues, with production not expected to resume at JLR’s UK facilities until 1 October at the earliest.The government will underwrite the loan through the Export Development Guarantee (EDG), a financial support mechanism aimed at helping UK companies who sell overseas.The loan will be paid back by JLR over five years, in an effort to boost the firm’s cash reserves as it makes a “backlog of payments”to its suppliers.No cars have been built this month, and the company has stopped placing orders with its 700 suppliers.A parliamentary committee saidsome small suppliers had told themthey had, at most, one week left before they ran out of cash.The halt in operations is thought to be costing JLR itself atleast £50m per week.The manufacturer, owned by India’s Tata Motors, typically builds about 1,000 cars a day at its three factories in Solihull and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, and Halewood in Merseyside.
JLR restarts some IT systems after cyber-attackJLR suppliers with ‘days of cash’ left
凯尔表示，这项贷款担保将有助于保护西米德兰兹郡、默西塞德郡及捷豹路虎供应链其他地区的就业岗位。”我们向捷豹路虎提供15亿英镑的信贷额度，明确目的是同时支持其供应链体系，”他说道，”这是一个重要时刻：将为捷豹路虎及其供应链提供巨大资源，助其渡过当前面临的挑战。”
财政大臣雷切尔·里夫斯表示：”今日我们通过高达15亿英镑的额外私人融资保护数以千计的工作岗位，助力企业支撑其供应链，守护英国汽车工业的重要命脉。”
影子商业大臣安德鲁·格里菲斯对政府支持表示欢迎，但指出”决策过程过于漫长”，并呼吁工党建立网络再保险计划以保护英国企业免受国家支持的黑客侵袭。自由民主党商业发言人莎拉·奥尔尼亦肯定此举，但批评政府”应对迟缓”，并补充说若有必要，政府还应准备好为受影响员工提供休假补贴计划。
当地议员对政府举措表示支持。西布罗姆维奇工党议员莎拉·库姆斯指出此次危机”使黑乡地区数千工作岗位面临风险”。”政府听取了制造业供应链的诉求，并采取有力行动保障就业，”她在社交媒体上表示。梅里登和索利赫尔东区保守党议员萨吉布·巴蒂认为贷款担保确有必要，但政府反应迟缓。”是否认为政府行动太慢？百分之百肯定。他们需要吸取教训，提高应变能力，”他在社交媒体上写道。
代表捷豹路虎及其供应链数千名员工的联合工会称政府支持是”重要的第一步”。秘书长莎伦·格雷厄姆表示：”当前必须确保所提供的资金用于落实就业保障，同时维护捷豹路虎及其供应链的技术人才与薪酬待遇。”
捷豹路虎于8月31日遭遇网络攻击。自称”Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters”的组织声称对此次黑客事件负责，该组织亦是今年早些时候玛莎百货、合作社集团等多起零售商重大网络攻击的幕后黑手。自9月1日起，捷豹路虎员工被告知居家办公，具体返岗日期尚未明确。
捷豹路虎发言人表示：”我们的团队正与网络安全专家、国家网络安全中心及执法部门全天候协同工作，确保以安全可靠的方式恢复运营。复苏计划的基础工作正在稳步推进，我们将持续向同事、经销商及供应商提供定期更新。”
【本文精选自BBC，原文链接：https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgl15ykerlro】