We haven't heard much about Lotus lately, but here's a piece of good news for the DRB-Hicom subsidiary. The UK's Regional Growth Fund (RGF) has awarded Lotus £10.44 million in grants, which will be used for R&D of products, along with staff training. Lotus is expected to create 313 new full time jobs to support production over the coming years.
UK Business Secretary, Vince Cable MP visited Lotus' Norfolk headquarters yesterday, where he toured the engineering and factory facilities and formally announced the grant to Lotus management. The RGF is a flexible and competitive £3.2 billion fund operating across England from 2011 to 2017. It supports projects that are using private sector investment to create economic growth and sustainable employment.
The grant is a further boost for Lotus, following a £100 million investment by DRB-Hicom which has allowed the company to enhance its engineering, productivity, efficiency and quality. Lotus is also recruiting for more than 130 new jobs, previously announced in July.
Lotus COO Aslam Farikullah said: "This grant is part of a wider strategy for Lotus created to ensure we thrive and grow. We are responding to increased global demand for our cars and engineering consultancy services and this grant will help to position Lotus at the forefront of global automotive innovation.
"We have very exciting plans for our sports cars and it's a very positive move for Lotus that we're in a position to create new jobs and to significantly contribute to Britain's automotive industry. The team here at Lotus have worked very hard to secure this grant and every employee is playing their part in the stability, growth and future success of our company."
We too paid a recent visit to Hethel to try Lotus' latest model, the Exige S Roadster. Click here for the review.
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