A senior figure in the history of Nissan’s Sunderland plant has announced his retirement.
Kevin Fitzpatrick, who was one of the original 22 supervisors hired before the plant opened, went on to become senior vice president at the global corporation. His time at Sunderland saw the plant become the largest car producer in the UK, making more than 10m cars and having a workforce of 6,000 people.
A former apprentice, he helped oversee the creation of the Nissan Skills Foundation in 2014 and he also set up the North East Automotive Alliance in 2015, becoming its first chairman. He was awarded a CBE in 2018.
