City leaders challenged to help save LDV
Mar 4 2009 by Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail
MBO chairman Erik Eberhardson said in the event of the buyout succeeding production at LDV would resume on a three days a week basis from April 6, with the company producing 200 MAXUS vans a week.
The Government has already rejected a request for a £30 million bridging loan from the MBO team, who are now drawing up a revised funding plan in a bid to save the factory from closure, with the loss of around 850 direct jobs and thousands of others in the supply chain.
But Mr King today urged Birmingham City Council: “Don’t send a bus to Washwood Heath to advise on redundancies. Send a car instead with a £10 million loan from the city and dare Lord Mandelson to double it.”The former MP praised the Birmingham van-maker, whose future hangs by a thread with production at a standstill for nearly three months after the UK commercial vehicle market collapsed by around 50 per cent before Christmas.
“Birmingham searches the world for inward investment, sadly there isn’t much out there. We must therefore hang on to what we’ve got.
“Not that LDV is a basket case - far from it. The vans are very good, the factory modern and they’ve got exciting and innovative plans, all the things Government and the city have demanded.
“It is currently stranded because of the workings of bankers playing roulette with our money. “In days of old, our city forefathers created gas, water and transport undertakings. We thought big.
“Well, let’s tell those southern types if needs must we will think big again.”
No-one was immediately available for comment from Birmingham City Council.
After yesterday’s meeting spot-welder Graham Hickman, aged 43, said he hoped the show of support from the shopfloor would be enough to raise cash for the MBO.
“Everyone’s leaving feeling quite uplifted and I’m a little hopeful I have got a future here,” Mr Hickman said.
“The feeling is the show of solidarity should do the trick. The ‘no’ vote was hardly noticeable.
“Erik Eberhardson thanked us all for our support.”
Press-setter Brian Morson, aged 61, has worked at the factory about 34 years and been through four different managements.
He said: “We were voting will we accept a pay reduction of ten per cent. We will give all our support to the management buyout.
“The feeling among us was we had to do everything we could to keep going.
“I fully support this, there are too many jobs involved not to. The pay cut is something we’ve got to do.”
Maintenance-fitter Paul Finn, aged 45, from Yardley, agreed workers had to accept the pay cut, adding: “Hopefully I’ve still got a job – touch wood.”
Roy Love said: “I’m just hoping the Government come up now with the cash and help us out.
“Shop floor workers gave 100 per cent of their backing. I just hope now we can pull through.”
