Leyland Plans 900 More Jobs

GLASGOW HERALD

Expansion of Albion Motors Ltd will soon be concentrated in additional space at the former Harland & Wolff premises , Scotstoun, Glasgow , it was announced yesterday in Bathgate.

The acquisition of the additional space at Scotstoun, confirmed at a news conference at Bathgate , means that development there will take priority over Dumbarton , where the company owns over 200 acres of land .

British Leyland Motor Corporation , parent company of Albion Motors , have started a £4.5 million expansion programme in Scotland , it was stated . About £2 million is being spent on plant and buildings at the company’s Bathgate works , increasing the labour force from 4400 to 5000 .

More than £2 million will be spent on the expansion of Albion Motors and this is expected to increase production by 25% . An additional 300 jobs will thereby be provided , bringing the number of employees at Scotstoun to 3800.

Mr Ronald Ellis , managing director of British Leyland truck and bus division , said yesterday :- “Albion have not discarded their plans for expansion at Dumbarton , but the development at the Harland & Wolff premises will take priority over any development at Dumbarton .

We must fully exploit our expansion in Glasgow and Bathgate before we can finalise our plans for development elsewhere and so we must regard this stage of the operation as being postponed for the time being .”

The company have purchased 300000 square feet of space at Harland & Wolff’s premises . The development will be in stages and it is expected that the transfer of the property will be completed by the middle of next year . “We have , however , arranged partial entry into the newly acquired building from September this year and plan to install plant immediately thereafter ,” Mr Ellis said .

At Bathgate the company have achieved a target of producing and selling 1000 trucks and tractors a week . They hope to reach a new target of 1200 a week by September .