'I had to lay off staff because of JLR shutdown'

Michael Beese said he has had to lay off some of his staff

A supplier to Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has had to lay people off after a cyber attack forced the car maker to shutdown production for over a month, its boss says.

Michael Beese, managing director of Genex UK, which presses metal parts, said 70% of its business as a second tier supplier is to JLR.

"We've not delivered any parts for a month with no end in sight, [and] we don't know when the next batch of parts is going to be leaving, which is causing problems for cash flow," he said.

Earlier this week, JLR restarted some of its production, a month after the cyber attack, but the benefits of this reaching supplier firms may take months, one chamber of commerce boss said.

Last weekend, it also emerged that the government would underwrite a £1.5bn loan guarantee to the company, in a bid to support its suppliers.

Mr Beese said he had been forced to lay off some of the company's 18 staff members because of a cash shortage. The company, based in Leamore, Walsall, is still waiting on payments for past work.

"We've delivered goods in good faith, we've done what we need to do, and we're not being paid for it," he continued.

"We now have a month of parts that we've not delivered, and potentially it could be another month of parts not delivered that's two months of sales, of turnover, of cash flow that we now have to hold in the business."

Mr Beese said there is a need for clearer communication and support mechanisms to alleviate the financial strain on businesses lower down the supply chain.

'Personal guarantee'

He added the company is was being asked to provide personal guarantees for commercial loans, which Mr Beese says could jeopardise livelihoods.

"I'm being asked to put a personal guarantee against the loan, which essentially could affect my life, my children and wife's livelihood, for something that's not my fault," he said.

"For me I'd like the government to give a clear indication of what is this loan being used for, how is it being used, and what caveats are put behind that to push that down through the tiers.

"It feels like we have been left to fight for ourselves and that's not really very kind or very helpful.

"We need to get something in place that supports that injects the money at the lower tiers the trickling down effect, I don't think is going to be quick enough."