Government backs £1.5bn loan to Jaguar Land Rover to shield suppliers as cyberattack halts production

The United Kingdom government will underwrite a £1.5 billion loan guarantee to Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to shore up its suppliers and protect jobs as the carmaker continues to halt production after a cyberattack. The loan, provided by a commercial lender and guaranteed through the Export Development Guarantee (EDG) program, will be repaid by JLR over five years and is intended to bolster the company’s cash reserves amid a backlog of payments to suppliers.

The move comes as JLR, owned by India’s Tata Motors, has suspended production for weeks following the August cyberattack. No cars have been built this month, and the firm has stopped placing orders with its roughly 700 suppliers. A parliamentary committee has said some small suppliers told lawmakers they had, at most, one week of cash left. The halt in operations is believed to be costing JLR at least £50 million per week, underscoring the risk to the broader UK automotive supply chain.

JLR employs about 150,000 people across its UK supply chain, with around 30,000 directly working at its three plants in Solihull and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, and Halewood in Merseyside. The government said the loan would help preserve skilled jobs in those regions and across the wider network while production is ramped back up. The loan will be repaid over five years, first helping to stabilize supplier payments and then easing the path to restart operations.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the government’s “decisive action” would support the supply chain and protect skilled jobs in the West Midlands, Merseyside and throughout the UK. Chancellor Rachel Reeves framed the move as protecting thousands of jobs with up to £1.5 billion in additional private finance aimed at sustaining the supply chain and a vital part of the British car industry. Some opposition figures criticized the timing, with Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith noting the support came late, while Liberal Democrat spokesperson Sarah Olney called for additional steps, including a possible furlough-style scheme if needed.

Unite, the union representing thousands of JLR workers and suppliers, described the package as an important first step and urged that the funds be used to secure job guarantees and preserve skills and pay within the company and its supply chain. JLR has said its teams are working around the clock with cybersecurity specialists, the National Cyber Security Centre, and law enforcement to restart in a safe and secure manner. The company indicated the recovery program’s foundational work is underway and that regular updates would follow for colleagues, retailers and suppliers.

The cyberattack was claimed by a group calling itself Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, which has been linked to other high-profile breaches earlier this year at retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Co-op. JLR workers have been told to stay home since September 1, with no firm return date, reflecting the severity of the disruption for a manufacturer that typically produced about 1,000 cars per day across its three UK plants.

The government’s guarantee aims to provide liquidity so suppliers can continue to pay staff and other operating costs while JLR rebuilds its own cash position and works through a backlog of orders and payments. Industry observers note that restoring confidence across the supply chain is critical not only for JLR but for the broader UK auto sector, which has faced a string of disruption-related risks in recent years. Officials said the EDG-backed loan would be structured to minimize risk to taxpayers while ensuring suppliers have access to the working capital needed to weather the outage.