LDV: Hope on horizon for workers
“If I were being optimistic, there should be some clarity around this within the next two to three weeks.”
Mr Hopkins said the future course of “detailed discussions and negotiations” with would-be buyers was difficult to predict.
Names said to be already in the frame for LDV include Malaysian group Weststar, which pulled out of a plan to buy the van maker after weeks of discussions, Indian group Mahindra and Mahindra and Chinese car firm Nanjing.
Mr Hopkins did not rule out a later bid for the factory in addition to the nine potential bidders who have signed confidentiality agreements - but said delayed bids would be less advanced in the process.
He said the fragile state of the UK commercial vehicle market was also clouding the bidding process. “Some parties themselves are unclear how to take these proposals forward - what sort of business they envisage.
“We can’t really help them with that – they have to form their own views themselves as to the emerging state of the market.”
LDV collapsed amid debts of around £75 million more than two weeks ago after the factory had been at a standstill for six months, with no vans built since before Christmas.
A total of 810 workers have been made redundant, with a skeleton staff of just 37 retained to maintain the factory.
Share
