David Cameron opens new McLaren facility

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has visited and opened McLaren's brand-new 20,000sqm £50 million production centre in Woking, Surrey. Greeted by Executive Chairman of McLaren Group and McLaren Automotive Ron Dennis and current Formula One drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, the Prime Minister hauled the facility as a step forward for the country's manufacturing sector.

“We all want this to be a country where we're respected once again for what we make as well as the services and finance we provide – vital though they are. People say we can't do it, but what McLaren does here in Woking is a powerful rebuke to that view,” said Cameron.

Future economic growth was also a critical issue for Dennis. “Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, great minds such as George Stephenson, James Watt, Matthew Boulton and Isambard Kingdom Brunel have brought tremendous and justified acclaim to Great Britain via their relentless innovation and restless desire to deliver societal benefit, added Dennis.

“But, in the UK, there has been an over-reliance in the past on the financial and service sectors. Now, industry is realising that Britain’s grand manufacturing tradition is a solid platform upon which to build – and I want the McLaren Group to play its part in the crucial recalibration of UK plc.

The Foster + Partners-designed centre will produce McLaren's MP4-12C supercar, the Group's first production vehicle since the iconic F1. The company is also working on a new car for next year – the MP4-27. McLaren is nine months into the development programme and has stored 18,918 individual components from more than 3,000 different works-orders and signed off over 5,500 technical drawings.

Future plans for McLaren include building a McLaren Applied Technologies Centre, rolling out 35 global dealerships by the end of 2012 and continuing to develop state-of-the-art F1 and production vehicles.