It has been claimed that the Longbridge Works were both physically and emotionally the true heart of Britain’s motor industry. From its inception as a car factory in 1905, the site has dominated the working and social life of the area for the last 100 years (1).
Longbridge workers helped pioneer mass car manufacturing in the UK producing one of the first cars during the 1920’s (Austin Seven) to make motoring truly affordable for the middle classes and, of course, several classic icons of British design, including the Mini of which over 3 million rolled off the production line at Longbridge. Employing 21,000 people at the beginning of the 1960s (and peaking at 32,000 during both world wars), Longbridge was once one of the largest manufacturing plants in the world.
At the closure of MG Rover on 8 April 2005, the works employed 6500 highly skilled men and women resourcing an estimated supply chain employing 27,000 people, sourcing from over 500 suppliers worldwide and spending an annual material budget of £1.2 billion. The loss almost overnight of the Longbridge Works was a devastating blow for local people and the West Midland’s economy. In the aftermath of the closure, the MG Rover Task Force was set up and allocated a £170m support package targeted at former MG Rover employees, suppliers and dealers and the wider community. The Task Force (a strong partnership of key organisations including Advantage West Midlands, Birmingham City Council, LSC, Job Centre Plus, GOWM, DTI, trades union, local MPs and a number of community groups and other organisations) was successful in minimising the impacts on the local community and regional economy and was commended by central government for its response.
The economy of the West Midlands has always been a product of innovation, enterprise, hard work and intuition. For some it’s a place for ‘acting upon imagination, realising possibilities and bringing into being expectations…a place of hopers and doers’ (2). For others it’s now a growing dynamic and diverse place, positioned at the centre of the global economic stage driving forward investment and international business.
This plan is the start of a new chapter in the history of Longbridge. It aims to not only deliver tomorrow’s jobs today, through a major new high technology focused Regional Investment Site, but also to break new ground in helping Birmingham prepare for climate change. This means creating sustainable high quality built environments, welldesigned open spaces and green corridors and taking a leading edge approach to creating mixed-use places, diverse communities and carbon neutral developments.
It is fair to say that this plan would not have been possible without the active involvement, interest and passion of a wide range of local people and organisations who together have made a real difference to the future of Longbridge. We hope this Area Action Plan fully delivers their joint aspirations and vision.
1. ‘Making Cars at Longbridge - 100 Years in the Life of a Factory’ - Gillian Bardsley and Colin Corke, 2006
2. ‘We Ain’t Going Away - The Battle for Longbridge’ - Carl Chinn and Stephen Dyson, 2000.