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Report - - LDV, Birmingham-Full Of Win 23/06/09 | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - LDV, Birmingham-Full Of Win 23/06/09

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Rookinella

I should have danced all night
28DL Full Member
Brim full of epicness I reckon. In and out no problems, more heavy machinery than you can shake a win stick at. Hooray!!! Well done everyone :thumb

The Birmingham-based van maker LDV fell into administration today after teetering on the brink for months when a prospective bidder failed to raise enough money. As many as 3,000 jobs at dealers and suppliers have been put at risk by the failure of the firm, which has already made most of its staff redundant.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has been appointed administrator of LDV Group and a parts supplier, Birmingham Pressings. The two firms employ about 850 people at their offices and plant in Drews Lane, Birmingham. About 40 staff will be kept to maintain the site, PwC said. Most redundancies came after the plant shut in December as the firm ran out of cash.

PwC said: "Due to the lack of funding, it has regrettably been necessary to make the majority of the workforce redundant and we will retain a skeleton workforce of around 40 people to maintain the site."

LDV applied to go into administration in April, after the recession caused sales to collapse last year. The application was withdrawn with the emergence of a potential buyer, Weststar, but the Malaysian vehicles business said last week it could not raise the funds to buy the firm.

"Last week, Weststar withdrew from the proposed purchase, which left the directors with little option other than to reapply for administration," PwC said.

PwC said it now planned to seek buyers for the firms' assets - for which it already has three interested parties, including Weststar. The accountancy firm declined to give more details. LDV's assets include its dealers network, intellectual property, factory and about 3,000 vans on site. The firm produced 10,000 vans last year, generating sales of about £150m. It lost £54m in 2008 and the first quarter of this year.

LDV said: "We now hope that any possible buyers recognise the potential of the investment already made at LDV and what has been achieved in the last year to transform the future profitability of the business. There is still the opportunity of a bright future for LDV."

The firm had invested £600m in recent years in lightweight, fuel-*efficient vehicles. Its Electric Maxus van was ready for production, it said. "It would be a tragedy if the UK threw away the opportunity of the return on this investment," said LDV marketing director, Guy Jones.

LDV has spent five months asking lenders and the government for loans and aid to keep it going, but ministers were sceptical that it had a commercial future. Earlier todayyesterday, LDV had called on the government to keep it afloat with a £60m loan, after ministers had already offered a £5m facility to help fund a potential takeover.

"This is a bitter blow for manufacturing and the West Midlands," said Tony Woodley, Unite general secretary. "LDV has been in a vulnerable situation for many years … We must now redouble our efforts to give the beleaguered manufacturing industry the help it needs."

The company is owned by the Russian van manufacturer Gaz, controlled by the Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska. The firm began as the trucks division of British Leyland and was created in its current form following a management buyout in 1993.



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This is bloody big sewing machine!!
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