1,000 new McLaren jobs by 2032, but the £500m names South Yorkshire and a plant with no announced location. Woking's share of the jobs is not stated.

McLaren Automotive will invest around £500 million in the UK and create 1,000 new jobs by 2032. The government announced it on 16 September, from the company’s headquarters in Woking (Prime Minister’s Office).

The announcement does not say how many of those jobs will be in Woking.

That is the part worth reading carefully. The release describes two pieces of capital spending, and neither is in Surrey:

  • expanding McLaren’s existing research, development and production site in South Yorkshire
  • opening a new vehicle production facility, with no location given

The jobs line is broader than the money line. The release says the 1,000 jobs will be created “including in Woking and South Yorkshire”. It puts no number against either place.

What the announcement actually commits to

The company is the borough’s most recognisable employer. McLaren Automotive Limited has been registered at the McLaren Technology Centre on Chertsey Road since long before the building existed: the company was incorporated on 2 December 1985 and its registered office is the Woking campus, GU21 4YH.

Panel of four figures from the government's McLaren announcement: around £500 million invested, 1,000 new jobs by 2032, up to 3,000 further jobs expected across the supply chain, and £4 billion of government investment in the automotive sector by 2035. A footnote reads that the number of jobs in Woking is not stated.

The government’s figures, in full:

  • around £500 million from McLaren
  • 1,000 new jobs by 2032
  • up to 3,000 additional jobs expected across the wider sector
  • £4 billion of government investment into the automotive sector by 2035, which the release says this builds on

Two product commitments sit behind it. McLaren plans to manufacture future engines in-house for the first time, and to add a performance SUV to its range. The release also says the company will keep all current and new models in the UK.

Nick Collins, chief executive of McLaren Group Holdings and McLaren Automotive, said the investment “will give us the platform to grow, develop our next generation of cars and build on what makes us distinctive, while strengthening skills, jobs and Britain’s global competitiveness”. Jassem Al Zaabi, group chief executive of the owner L’IMAD, said the company had spent “the past 20 months” working with McLaren’s management on its strategic direction.

The announcement says Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and First Secretary of State Louise Haigh would visit the Technology Centre on 16 September to meet senior leaders, apprentices and workers.

Nothing on the Woking planning register matches a new plant

A new production facility needs permission somewhere. The public planning record for Woking borough does not show one here.

The two most recent McLaren applications at the Chertsey Road campus are both small, and both were decided months before the announcement:

  • PLAN/2026/0150, an extension to the Technology Centre switchboard room with a freestanding UK Power Networks substation and a metering kiosk in the rear service yard. Validated 24 February, permitted under delegated powers on 21 April 2026.
  • PLAN/2026/0204, a revised extension to house a test rig, with an external condenser compound, also in the rear service yard. Validated 12 March, permitted on 6 May 2026.

Neither is a factory. If McLaren intends to build in Woking, an application would have to appear on the borough’s planning register first, and none has.

Why the young jobs figure matters here

The Prime Minister’s quote in the release is aimed squarely at young people. Andy Burnham said the investment “will create high-quality apprenticeships, jobs and drive growth far beyond their factory gates”, and added: “I want young people to see that and know there is a future for them in making things, wherever they grew up.”

In Woking, that is a live problem with a number attached. 345 people aged 16 to 24 in the borough were claiming unemployment-related benefits in August, the highest monthly figure since May 2021 and 28 per cent up on a year earlier, while the 25 to 49 age group was flat. We reported the August claimant count in full on 16 September.

So the test of this announcement locally is not the £500 million. It is whether the apprenticeships land within reach of the young people counted in that figure.

What it means for you

If you are looking for work or an apprenticeship, nothing is open yet. The announcement sets a 2032 horizon and names no Woking roles, so treat any recruitment claim that is not on McLaren’s own careers pages with caution.

If you are a local supplier, the release says the investment is expected to unlock up to 3,000 more jobs across the sector and to “boost local firms throughout its supply chain”. That is a government expectation, not a contract, and no procurement route has been published.

If you live near the campus, the thing to watch is the planning register. A vehicle production facility is a major application, and it would be visible there long before any building work starts.

We will publish the detail as soon as McLaren or the government names where the new plant goes and how many of the 1,000 jobs are Woking jobs.

Sources