Cyberattack on JLR piles pressure on government

Calls for Treasury to step in as loss of production at Britain's biggest car maker since hacking last month puts economy at risk, says Richard Aucock

- Richard Aucock

In April, Britain's biggest car maker, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), had just cleared a £5bn debt pile it racked up following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, a devastating cyberattack which has halted production lines since 31 August has set it back again, with consequences that will reverberate across the industry.

JLR directly employs around 33,000 people and supports almost 200,000 workers in the UK, many at suppliers now under threat. Several of those suppliers have been left with only a few weeks of cashflow, even though the company has redeployed staff to clear £300m of outstanding payments. Some smaller firms only have days of cash left.