Tanfield ready to move site

2:22pm Friday 25th April 2008

ZERO-EMISSION vehicle maker The Tanfield Group this week revealed it was only months away from moving into its new North-East factory, which will lead to the immediate creation of about 300 jobs.

The company said it had already earmarked its new site in the region, and will move in within the coming months, with production of its electric vehicles due to begin in the second half of this year.

The move into a second North- East site, the location of which is not being revealed, could eventually create 1,000 new jobs, as Tanfield aims to triple production to meet worldwide demand.

A spokesman said: "We have identified a new location and are fairly close to completing a deal.

"Once that has been completed, it will be a fairly quick process for us to move in. About 300 jobs will be created straight away, over the course of a few months, with a significant number more to follow."

And revealing a trebling of its profits last year to £11.9m, Tyne and Wear-based Tanfield also said it was eyeing further expansion in the US with a new factory opening in the coming months.

It is understood the group has identified three possible new sites in North America, with a view to moving into one in the near future to ramp up production of the Newton and Edison models made by its Smith Electric Vehicles division.

The group, based at the Vigo Centre in Washington, is keen to make inroads into the $4bn US zero-emission market, and has already pledged to spend £30m building two new factories.

Its acquisition of US-based aerial platform maker Snorkel International helped to bolster its position in the market, and Tanfield, in a statement to the Stock Exchange on Wednesday, predicted significant opportunities in the US on the back of increasing demand for electric vehicles and penalties for high-polluting vehicles.

Revealing its preliminary results for the year to December 31, AIMlisted Tanfield said it built and shipped 260 vehicles, but orders for the remaining eight months of this year already total 523.

Turnover too had doubled to £123m, with that figure expected to increase again this year on the back of its already bulging order book.

The company is now confirmed as the world's biggest road-going electric commercial vehicle maker, and one of only three full line global manufacturers in the powered access market.

Darren Kell, chief executive of The Tanfield Group, predicted further strong progress in the coming months.

"We have delivered an excellent set of results, in line with our strategy for profitable growth," he said.

"We have strengthened our position as the worldwide leader in commercial electric vehicles and continue to develop our powered access division into one of the leading global players in this sector."