SUNDERLAND, UK. (September 8, 2017) – The entire Nissan Sunderland Plant workforce has been awarded with the Honorary Freedom of Sunderland, in recognition of its “outstanding contribution to the wellbeing and community spirit of the city”.
Representatives of the plant’s 7,000 employees were presented with the honour by the Mayor of the City of Sunderland at a special meeting of the City Council at Sunderland Civic Centre. The ceremony took place on the same day that Nissan announced that the Sunderland Plant will start production of the new Nissan LEAF by the end of the year. In November last year, the council announced that all staff at the plant would be granted the Freedom after it successfully secured the future production of the next generation Qashqai and X‑Trail models. Nissan started production in Sunderland in 1986 since when it has produced 9.2 million vehicles, exporting to more than 130 markets globally, becoming the largest car plant in the history of the UK automotive industry.
Kevin Fitzpatrick, Nissan Divisional Vice President, European Manufacturing, said: “I speak for the whole plant when I say how proud we are to receive this honour from Sunderland City Council.
“For three decades Nissan and the City of Sunderland have worked hand in hand, creating a leading global automotive centre.
“Central to that has been the ingenuity, quality and commitment of our workforce – so many of whom were born and bred close to our factory.”
Driven by the success of Nissan’s Qashqai and Juke crossovers, output at Nissan’s Sunderland plant has exceeded 500,000 vehicles for four of the past five years, with its model line-up also including the all-electric Nissan LEAF and the premium Infiniti Q30 and QX30. In total, Nissan supports 40,000 UK jobs in design, engineering, manufacturing and sales and marketing.
Joining Kevin Fitzpatrick at the ceremony yesterday (September 7) were Colin Lawther, Nissan Senior Vice President for Manufacturing, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management in Europe, and Trevor Mann, now Chief Operating Officer at Mitsubishi Motors – who was personally awarded the Freedom of the City in 2014. All three were part of the original workforce at the plant’s inception.
Paul Watson, Leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “Sunderland City Council is delighted to bestow the Nissan workforce with the Freedom of the City. Each and every member of staff has played a great part in transforming the city and the region’s economy. It is only right that we recognise this contribution and celebrate the successes that the people of Sunderland, and the North East have helped achieve.”