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'It has taken 20 years, but pride is on the up'

James Bovill
BBC Midlands Today
PA Media A car transporter lorry makes its way past a large sign with Rover, MG and Mini car badges on it, that stands at the entrance to the Longbridge plant. The transporter is carrying a full load of newly built carsPA Media
As early as 2000, five years before the plant finally closed, unions were warning that up to 50,000 jobs were at stake, while then owner BMW was not denying reports it was considering closing UK factories

For decades, car manufacturing ran through the veins of the Longbridge area of Birmingham.

But, the heart was ripped out of the area with the collapse of car maker MG Rover 20 years ago.

It was a life-changing time for thousands of people living and working in the area.

The firm had been a major part of the local economy, underpinning up to 18,000 jobs.

It has taken time for the community to rebuild itself, with what has since become one of the country's biggest regeneration schemes.

'Access to opportunities'

The West Midlands Combined authority has spent £6m to help decontaminate the final part of the site to be redeveloped.

West Midlands mayor Richard Parker said it was his priority to invest in places like Longbridge to help create jobs and attract investment.

He said he wanted to train and invest in young people to give them "access to the opportunities we're creating."

A series of flags at one of the gates into the former MG Rover plant in Longbridge. One flag is the Union Jack, another says MG Rover Group, with a third bearing the slogan "class of its own".
A total of £6m has been spent decontaminating the land where the MG Rover plant once stood

Richard Burden, who was MP for Birmingham Northfield from1992 until 2019, said an economic strategy was needed for the area to boost both skills and aspirations.

"Pay rates in this area, of people living here, are below the West Midlands and the national averages," he said.

'Bright future'

MG does still operate in Longbridge, but its vehicles are made in China and are checked in Birmingham, before being sold in Europe.

As a result, only 46 workers remain, but the company's bosses said the future was bright.

"I don't try and look too far back," said Guy Pigounakis, commercial director for MG Motor UK.

"There's lots of anecdotes and lots of really good memories about what went on there," he said.

"[But] I think the future has never, ever been more secure for MG."

A man stands in a park, smiling at the camera, with a blurred view of a series of tents behind him. He has dark, wavy hair and a beard and is wearing sunglasses with a striped white and blue T-shirt.
Bobby Barnes, director of a new street food centre close to the site of the former Longbridge plant, hopes his investment has been part of reviving the area's fortunes

Such evidence on the ground of that positivity can be found in a new street food centre, Herbert's Yard, named after the car factory's founder Herbert Austin.

"Rover was a difficult closing for everyone," said Bobby Barnes, the yard's director.

"It employed a lot of people and fed a lot of families, but we've found that the confidence and the pride in the area has definitely picked up and hopefully we've been part of that."

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