More than 1,000 people apply for Formula One jobs with Lotus

Lotus

PAUL HILL, BUSINESS EDITOR
18 November 2009 15:00



More than 1,000 people have applied for jobs at Lotus F1 Racing in the hope of being part of Norfolk's "formula one dream", the firm's new chief operating officer revealed.

About 250 jobs are expected to be created by the return of Lotus to the starting grid next season at the team's base at Hingham.

The Malaysian consortium behind the move has pledged to commit £30m to starting up the team - and set an annual racing budget of £56m.

Chief operating officer Keith Saunt said news of Lotus's return to the track after a 15 year break had prompted a flood of job applications.

"It is very busy here in Hingham at the moment and will continue to be so for quite some time," Mr Saunt said.

"All the plant and machinery is being serviced and calibrated and recruitment is in full swing. From our original job advert we received more than 1,000 applications with people from all walks of life wanting to be a part of new Lotus F1 Racing dream.

"Already we have a strong team in place and it is growing on a daily basis."

Mr Saunt's Formula 1 pedigree spans time with Team Lotus International, the Benetton racing team, Renault F1 and most recently Red Bull Racing, where he was chief operating officer from 2006.

Mr Saunt, who was born and educated in Norwich, said that the engineering supply chain in Norfolk was already benefitted from the return to Formula 1.

"During any car-build period even the biggest teams look to get help from high quality sub-contracting experts and we are very lucky in Norfolk to have so many great companies on our doorstep," he said.

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