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Tanfield ready to move site
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."
2:22pm Friday 25th April 2008
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