Toyota's 25 years of manufacturing at Burnaston

Posted on December 15th, 2017

Umbrella receives £2,500 to mark Toyota's 25th anniversary
Today Toyota Manufacturing UK (TMUK) celebrates 25 years of building cars at its plant in Derbyshire.

To commemorate this special occasion, invited guests joined staff at the factory for a journey back through the years and heard about £25,000 worth of surprise donations to local charities.

It was 16 December 1992 when the first Carina E drove off the production line at Toyota Manufacturing UK.

On that day, only four cars were built.

Since then, the automotive giant has built almost 4.2 million more at the Derby-based site.

Marvin Cooke, Managing Director of TMUK said: “We have only been able to reach this milestone by being competitive – that means achieving quality, productivity, flexibility and cost at global levels - and we will not stand still, we will always strive to be more competitive. Toyota is determined to be here for the long term.”

Over 25 years, the plant has attracted continual investment. In 2010 TMUK Burnaston was the first Toyota plant outside Japan to build hybrid vehicles, which now make up 60% of output. Earlier this year a further £240m was announced, upgrading the factory to enable production of the next generation of cars.

To celebrate the quarter century, TMUK was joined by invited guests, including the Rt Hon Sir Patrick McLoughlin MP, Heather Wheeler MP and Toyota Motor Europe, Senior Vice President, Andy Pfeiffenberger.

Marvin thanked the local community for its support, saying: “I am aware of the huge contribution that the local community has made to TMUK. Without the support of our local authorities, local government leaders, our local colleges, our suppliers and many local partners, and of course our members, we could not have achieved all that we have.”

Tony Walker, Deputy Managing Director, added: “Toyota does not exist purely to make cars and return a profit. We exist to make a full contribution to the societies in which we operate. In these past 25 years we have donated over £5.5m to local charities and organisations.”

In recognition of today’s milestone, representatives from the factory and Charitable Trust surprised 12 local organisations with a share each of £25,000 towards their work.

Umbrella, based in Mackworth, Derby, which provides support for children and young adults with special educational needs and disabilities and their families, received £2,500. Ann Rowlands, CEO of Umbrella, said: “This wonderful surprise donation from Toyota means so much to Umbrella. We have been fundraising to convert a piece of adjoining land into a safe space car park for the children and young people to access Umbrella safely and this now means we are a huge leap closer to turning it into reality”.

Picture caption: Staff and service users at Umbrella, in Mackworth, Derby, celebrate receiving £2,500 to mark TMUK’s 25th anniversary

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