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Nissan plant starts 24-hour production
Sunderland's Nissan plant has gone 24-7.
Staff at the Wearside factory are celebrating today after a third shift introduced to cope with unprecedented demand for the Qashqai went live last night.
The night shift will also help meet demand for the Qashqai +2, a seven-seat version of the original five-seater car, to be officially unveiled at next month's London Motor Show and go on sale across Europe in September.
The new shift has created about 800 new jobs at the factory – and 25-year-old Nicholas Lane was among the new starters coming off the line this morning.
Last night may have been the first official shift following a practice run last week – but the recruits have been working at the factory for two months, preparing to go live.
"This will be my ninth week," said Nicholas, of Sunderland.
"Everything went okay – it seemed fine."
Nicholas used to work for an engineering company in Newcastle and is delighted to have found work on the doorstep.
"This is a lot better," he said. "It is a lot closer to home."
Plant bosses have moved experienced staff from the two day shifts to the night shift to ensure the move to 24-hour production goes smoothly.
Lee Field, 26, who has worked at the factory for more than a year, was among those making the transfer to night-time working.
"They took half-and-half from the A and B shifts and put them on the C-shift," said Lee, from South Shields.
So how was he coping with the move to 24-hour working?
"It's tiring," he said, "but I can't go to bed until two o'clock because I've got the bairn."
Trim and chassis supervisor Steve Bulley oversaw the dry run of the night shift last week. Steve's department is one of the most labour-intensive in the plant and has welcomed almost half of the new recruits.
"It has been a busy period," he said, "but with the way we have trained them, it has actually gone very smoothly.
"It has been very successful."
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Weather for Sunderland
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 6 C
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