Vauxhall to restart Ellesmere Port production on 17 August
Vauxhall has this afternoon announced that production will restart at its plant at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire on 17 August.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the PSA-owned firm shuttered the facility, where it builds the Astra model, on 17 March.
The announcement came despite reports that the plant would not open again until September at the earliest.
Over 1,000 workers are employed at the facility.
The company said that it would implement an extensive health and safety protocol designed in conjunction with union Unite in order to protect workers.
These include the daily checking of workers’ temperatures, the mandatory wearing of face masks and goggles, frequent cleaning of tools and facilities and compulsory social distancing.
Plant director Mark Noble said that the safety of Vauxhall’s workforce was the firm’s “first consideration” in restarting production.
In May Vauxhall restarted work at its plant in Luton, with 188 Ellesmere Port workers temporarily transferred to help with getting operations going again.
PSA manufacturing vice president Yann Vincent thanked these workers for their efforts.
“I would particularly like to praise the contribution of the Ellesmere Port employees who have supported the ramp-up of the production of Luton plant with a temporary transfer”, he said in a statement.
The future of the Ellesmere Port factory remains in doubt due to the UK’s departure from the EU, with PSA chief Carlos Tavares last year warning that the firm could close the site if Brexit proved unprofitable.