A landmark pay deal has been secured by steel giant TATA which it says will create thousands of jobs in Britain over the next decade. The firm owns Jaguar Land Rover, and had been planning to consolidate its manufacturing operations in the Midlands with the possible closure of one of its three sites in the area by 2014.

But Dr Ralf Speth CEO of Jaguar Land Rover announced the deal, which was secured after talks with union leaders, as the beginning of a new era for the business.

He said that "Our parent company TATA supported us through the recession and our employees also made sacrifices, but now we are seeing a great turnaround in the business and everyone involved, our employees, our customers and our TATA shareholders, will benefit from this agreement."

It may be recalled that TATA Steel Strip Products at Port Talbot supplies 18,000 tonnes of steel to Jaguar Land Rover every year.

A spokesman for the steelworks said that "Employees here are very proud that we are now directly linked by being part of the same company."

Sales of Jaguar Land Rover were up 60% in the three months to June 30th 2010. The firm is now expected to invest billions of pounds in the UK and significantly increase the number of models in its range and its overall global volumes.

It has also begun to hire 1,500 new employees to support the launch of its new Range Rover Evoque at its award winning Halewood factory in Liverpool.

(Sourced from www.thisissouthwales.co.uk)