25 August 2004 - Mini proves British manufacturing has real drive
Andrew Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, today witnessed the half a millionth MINI roll off the production line in Oxford.
He hailed the milestone as a success for British manufacturing as he revealed strong figures on the level of manufacturing vacancies and manufacturing output in the UK.
This month’s figures show that manufacturing output is rising to near record level with quarterly growth of 0.9% and year on year growth of 1.6%. In addition, the latest data on manufacturing vacancies shows that Jobcentre Plus takes around 250,000 manufacturing vacancies each year with 63,000 in the last quarter.
Mr Smith said: “This is a great day not just for the local labour force in Oxford but also for the country as a whole. Britain has the highest employment rate of the major industrialised nations and unemployment is at its lowest for thirty years. Manufacturing plays an important role in this success.
“The MINI is just one example of the continuing success of UK manufacturing in the global marketplace. Overall manufacturing output is rising and is close to its highest ever level.
“There are numerous job opportunities in manufacturing and Jobcentre Plus takes around 250,000 new manufacturing vacancies each year with many others available through other recruitment channels.”
Since production began at the BMW plant in 2001 more than 375,000 of the total 500,000 MINIs have been exported, helping to boost British manufacturing and contributing to the success of the UK labour market.
Notes for editors
- Photos of Andrew Smith with the 500,000th MINI are available from the BMW Group press office.
- Information on manufacturing output is published each month by the Office for National Statistics and is available on their website (www.statistics.gov.uk).
- Information on vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus is available from www.nomisweb.co.uk.
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