Arrival announces job cuts to fund electric van launch

Arrival will cut up to 800 jobs in order to kickstart the production of its new electric van.

The Banbury-based business said it needs to cut costs by 30%, in response to a “challenging economic environment”.

It plans to start building the vehicle in Q3 at a network of microfactories. The business has already secured an order of 10,000 vehicles from delivery firm UPS.

A statement issued by Arrival said: “Arrival continues to see a huge amount of interest in its products, and believes that its proposals are the right step at this time to ensure the long term success of the business and enable it to service this demand in the face of a unique economic environment that is seeing both new players and traditional OEMs facing supply chain issues, an ongoing pandemic, geopolitical tensions and rising inflation.

“Arrival believes it must address these challenges now as it starts production this year.

“Arrival’s vertical integration and new method for the production of electric vehicles using Microfactories, puts it in a unique position to respond to global issues such as these, with the proposed changes enabling Arrival to be even more agile in the face of ongoing global uncertainty.”

The company has proposed plans that include a realignment of the organisation that would enable it to deliver business priorities until late 2023, primarily utilising the £420m cash it has on hand. Arrival’s proposal includes a targeted 30% reduction in spend across the organisation and anticipates that it could potentially impact up to 30% of employees globally.

Last year, Arrival announced a service network programme that will use its digital service platform to train and certify technicians to service its vehicles. 

The service platform uses the data from Arrival’s vehicles and proprietary algorithms to enable existing service providers to repair and maintain its electric vans and buses.

Arrival has established four initial partners in Europe, including ARC Europe Group, Kwik Fit, Rivus Fleet Solutions and ZF.

Together, with partners in the US, Arrival says these partners will help form the Arrival Service Network, with more than 21,000 workshops and 60,000 mobile service units.