Coventry taxi maker LTI sold to Chinese firm Geely for £11.4m

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The black taxi manufacturer LTI has been sold for £11.4m to the Chinese car manufacturer Geely.

The company has acquired the “business and the principal assets” of Manganese Bronze Holdings (MBH), the manufacturer of the London cabs.

LTI in Coventry went into administration in October with 99 out of its 176 workers losing their jobs.

The deal, which it said will safeguard production in the UK, was agreed with administrators Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

‘Healthy future’
Geely said that its priority will be to re-establish the manufacture, sale and servicing of new and current vehicles “on broadly the same basis” as before the administration, including the continued assembly of the TX4 at the Coventry plant and retaining its 107 staff.

The deal includes retaining The London Taxi Company head office production, the Mann & Overton dealership in London including its property, and all related dealership assets including those in Manchester and Edinburgh.

Peter Johansen, vice president of Geely UK’s black cab operation, said that the Coventry factory would be supplying vehicles for the UK while others will be made in the sister factory in Shanghai for the left-hand drive market.

Li Shufu, chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said: “We have ambitious plans for the business and, despite there being a number of challenges to overcome, we are committed to working with all stakeholders to build a solid future for the black cab business that will enable it to return to profitability and grow substantially.”

David Bailey, a professor of international business strategy and economics at Coventry University Business School, said Geely “is a big player” that is “growing quickly” and that there is a chance there for them to put resources into developing new models.

He said: “I think in the short term Manganese Bronze could always be saved. Longer term the big issue is about developing new taxis that can compete in the market. Geely potentially offers them a lifeline to do that.”

Involve the workforce
He also hopes that some of the workers who were made redundant could be taken back on to be part of the skilled workers assembly line.

David Bailey from Coventry University Business School: “There a big challenges ahead and a need for investment”
Geely made an initial investment in MBH in 2006, in return for a 19.97% equity stake, and established a joint manufacturing facility in China.

It was also the biggest single creditor when the company went into administration.

The acquisition includes plant, equipment and property, intellectual property rights, trademarks and the “goodwill of the business.”

It also includes MBH’s 48% stake in the joint venture manufacturing company in Shanghai set up by Geely and MBH in 2009 and MBH’s stock of unsold vehicles.

Geely has said that it will involve the current workforce as much as possible.

Roger Maddison, the union Unite’s national officer said: “They [Geely] have plans for the future, let’s hope its another Jaguar Land Rover with plenty of investment, we can have a real success story here in Coventry.”

 

Source: BBC

Leeds minicab driver is sentenced for Leeds student collision

A minicab driver admitted driving without due care and attention after a gifted student was knocked over suffering “catastrophic” injuries.

Driver Rizwan Ali was travelling at excessive speed when he approached Hyde Park Corner in the early hours.

He could not stop in time, before hitting the student pedestrian Edward Buckley as he walked home, causing massive head injuries and multiple fractures.

He was rushed to the city’s neurological intensive care arriving within five minutes, which doctors said undoubtedly saved his life.

Mr Buckley, now 21, who was studying to be a commercial pilot, was told he would never walk or talk again after the accident.

Married Ali, 29, of Stanningley Road, Armley, was also found guilty of plying for trade in his private hire vehicle and driving without insurance, in a trial yesterday at Leeds Magistrates’ Court.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to the charge of driving without due care and attention and consideration was given to his early guilty plea for sentencing.

Ali denied willingly picking up four university students in his vehicle, in the city centre, with a pre-booked fare.

Ali said in court they had simply got into his car at city centre traffic lights, near Bed nightclub, without permission.

The students argued he had agreed at £7 fare to the Lupton flats in Headingley, after they knocked on his window.

It was on the journey home in the early hours of January 21, last year, that he was unable to stop in his vehicle after driving at an excessive speed along Otley Road, and hit Mr Buckley, who was studying to be a commercial pilot, near Hyde Park Corner.

Prosector Robert Campbell told how it has been impossible to determine the exact speed he had been travelling at, but it had been agreed he had been speeding and was unable to stop before colliding with Edward. Mr Campbell said: “He was travelling too quickly and collided with Mr Buckley, whose injuries were catastrophic. He hesitated for a moment and was hit. The defendant was stopped at the scene by police after various witnesses described seeing Mr Buckley crossing the road at the time, and hesitated for a moment and was hit.

“I understand he is only just recovering 12 months later.”

Ali was given nine penalty points on his driving licence for driving without due care and attention. The other two convictions were taken into consideration but additional points not given. He was ordered to pay a fine of £255, plus £400 costs and a £15 victim surcharge,

Solicitor Shuaib Khalil, defending Ali, said afterwards that the driver had been ‘devastated’ by the incident and what had happened to the victim.

source: http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/

Lancaster City Council consults on Taxis

Lancaster City Council is asking the public, taxi trade and other interested parties if rules limiting the number of hackney carriages operating within the district should be lifted.

Currently the number of licences issued to hackney taxis – which can pick passengers up without being pre-booked – in the Lancaster district is limited to 109.

This is regularly reviewed to ensure there are sufficient hackney taxis to meet demand, but local authorities elsewhere in the country are currently increasingly removing similar restrictions. Latest available figures show that 92 councils regulate the number of taxi licences, which constitutes around 26.7 per cent of licensing authorities in England and Wales.

A new report from the Law Commission is also recommending that such restrictions should be abolished.

Any relaxation in the rules would be particularly beneficial to wheelchair users. Currently just 15 of the 109 Hackney Carriages in the district are wheelchair accessible and any new licences issued would make this a requirement.

Coun Tony Johnson, chairman of the council’s Licensing Regulatory Committee, said: “The way the Hackney carriage trade is currently regulated in terms of numbers has both benefits and disadvantages.

“The purpose of this consultation is to identify whether the policy should continue in the future or be discontinued.

“The views of the public and the taxi trade will be key in helping us to make a decision that is of most benefit to both the trade and the travelling public.”

• To take part in the consultation email licensing@lancaster.gov.uk, visit www.lancaster.gov.uk/hackney-consultation or write to: Hackney Carriage Consultation, Licensing, Town Hall, Lancaster, LA1 1PJ. The deadline for making representations is 31st March 2013

 

 

Public consultation on policy changes affecting Wirral taxis

PUBLIC consultation on two potential changes to policies affecting Wirral taxis is underway.

The first consultation involves the possibility of lifting a restriction on the maximum age of a vehicle being used as a private hire cab.

At present, the policy is that the Council will not licence a vehicle more than eight years after the date of its first registration, unless it is deemed to be in exceptional condition taking into account mileage, appearance, condition and level of safety features.

Vehicles which are more than six years old already have to apply for their licence to be renewed every six months.

The second consultation is around Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licences and specifically about a policy around changing the vehicle on an existing licence.

At present there is an informal arrangement under which a vehicle may be changed on an existing licence subject to the replacement vehicle being the same age or younger than the vehicle on the existing licence.

The views of the public are needed to formally adopt a policy relating to circumstances when a Hackney Carriage Vehicle Proprietor wishes to change their vehicle.

Both consultations can be accessed online by following the below links:-

Private hire survey – https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KJDPRQC

Hackney survey – https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/K9YWLLJ

source: http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/