Ford receives £500m loan guarantee amid engine development

International Trade Secretary Liz Truss made the announcement during a visit to Ford’s engine manufacturing plant in Dagenham.

UKEF will provide the guarantee under its Export Development Guarantee (EDG), a new facility launched that will support high value commercial lending to UK exporters.

Before now, UKEF’s support had to be tied to an individual export contract. UKEF is now able to support a company’s general export activities using the EDG, unlocking its financial support for companies that wish to:

• Secure working capital to bid for multiple export contracts


• Scale up their existing export activities


• Invest in new premises and technologies linked to exports

Ford is one of the UK’s largest exporters and the company already exports to more than 15 countries in six continents, with overseas sales generating around £2.5 billion annually.

The loan will increase Ford’s capacity to: export from the UK; support investment into electrification, digital manufacturing and smart mobility solutions; upskill its UK workforce to safeguard thousands of highly skilled jobs at the Ford Britain Dunton Campus in Essex and engine production centre in Dagenham

Ford manufactures its engines for global export at Dagenham and the company designs its next generation commercial vehicles, such as the best-selling Ford Transit cargo van at Dunton.

Ford is reinventing its product development and manufacturing processes in the UK to reduce vehicle emissions and make the UK campus its global innovation centre. To that end, Ford will be launching its first all-electric Transit Van in 2021.

“Ford’s manufacturing operations are already an export success story, with around 85% of engines and 100% of transmissions built in the UK exported. This financing will help to maintain Ford as a key UK exporter,” said chairman, Ford of Britain, Graham Hoare. “I would like to thank UKEF for their confidence, and Citi who acted as coordinator and facility agent for the £625 million loan facility with a repayment term of five years.”

UKEF www.ukexportfinance.gov.uk