Bentley Will Cut Around A Quarter Of Its Workforce

It’s been a tough week for Britain’s luxury car makers this week. Following Aston Martin’s announcement of cost-cutting plans that could see 500 jobs go, Bentley has detailed its ‘Beyond100’ strategy, which will involve the company contacting its 4200 workers with voluntary redundancy offers.

The intention is for the workforce to be cut by 1000, and Bentley has said that it can’t rule out the use of compulsory redundancies to hit the target. A “comprehensive review of its cost and investment structure” was already in the pipeline before Covid-19 caused a massive drop in sales and revenue, with the economic fallout acting as a “hastener” for the restructure.

Various measures have already been implemented to trim costs, with recruitment and pay freezes, plus a furlough of 66 per cent of the company at the peak of the virus’ impact. Production was able to restart early in May with various new safety measures in place, however.

The end of production for the Mulsanne and its 6.75-litre V8 is unrelated to the job cuts, a Bentley UK representative told us, with workers on that line either redeployed elsewhere or due to be soon.

Bentley says its ‘Beyond100’ strategy should make for a “sector-defining, financially independent and recession-proof business,” although the blow of the redundancies isn’t lost on Bentley Chairman and CEO Adrian Hallmark. “Losing colleagues is not something we are treating lightly but this is a necessary step that we have to take to safeguard the jobs of the vast majority who will remain,” he said.