More Unhappiness at TVR

[Dickiex]

Did anyone notice the lastest twist in the TVR story.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/6388109.stm

DickieX

[mgmark]

Now there's a blatant case of stripping out what's worthwhile, going under, buying the useful bits that are left (like the badge rights) at a knock-down price, and then shift production elsewhere, thus avoiding all sorts of unsavoury issues like having to look after the workforce.    What a crying shame.

MG Mark

[oldtimer]

I have never really managed to summon up much affection for TVRs - unfortunately their reputation for poor reliability and poor build quality has gone before them.

Still my opinions or prejudices count for nothing in the context of what has happened there of late.  This is about the people who have worked so hard for so long for the company and the economy of the local area.  The buying back of TVR by the very person who ran the company to the administrators is nothing short of a scandal and a disgrace.

[Andy Zarse]

Not much affection for TVR here either. But this whole thing stinks. I would personally question the legality of this conduct. I'm sure the receivers will have looked at this aspect closely but it must be a pretty "wide" interpretation of the Comanies Act.

The good news is that I hear Smolenski is planning to develop a 600bhp TVR supercar. It'll be ruinously expensive to do so and hopefully no one will buy it, leaving him massively out of pocket and in daddy's bad books again. What a useless little git he is!

[powermite]

unfortunately this seems common practice in business.I went to a local engineering sale where the MD of the compny in liquidation was buying his own stuff back.He actually said to me,that this was the third time he'd done it!!
PM

[nopanic - neil]

From Wikipedia,
Nikolay Smolensky (Russian: Николай Смоленский), born 11 June 1980, is a Russian banker, president of international private bank Investbanka AD Skopje in the Republic of Macedonia.

Smolensky is the son of Russian oligarch Alexander Smolensky the former head of large Russian bank Agroprombank/SBS-Agro-Bank which collapsed in 1998. He is an associate of fellow Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, and due to his wealth and youth, has been dubbed in the press as the "baby oligarch".

Raised as “a sworn enemy of communism”, according to his father, Smolenski was educated in Austria and England. After his fathers bank SBS-Agro collapsed in 1998, Alexander launched a new banking group, First OVK. In 2003, this was handed to Nikolay, who declared it would triple in size to 1,500 branches. Two months later, he sold the business for an estimated £80m.

Smolensky and his young wife Olga subsequently bought a seven-bedroom house complete with swimming pool and surrounded by half an acre of grounds in Highgate, north London. He had access to a private jet — plus a collection of flashy cars.

On 27 July 2004 Smolensky, claiming Greek/British citizenship, became the owner of British sports car maker TVR. He also has connections with Italian motorbike manufacturer Benelli. After one car launch in two years of TVR ownership and total costs of ownership estimated at £40 million (£15 million purchase plus operating costs), Smolenski after threatening to move production abroad split the company into a number of different operating companies, in October 2006. On 24 December the production assets held in a company called Blackpool Automotive went into receivership - adminisrators are now seeking legal clarification of ownership of the brand and intelectual property rights, transfer to a core Smolenski company. It also emerged that Smolenski had sold his London home for £7.7million, and had moved with his family to Vienna.

Seems such a nice guy    - Seems like lossing big money runs in the family -  ALLEDGEDLY

I was told once -  Life is like a Sh*t Sandwich - The More Bread you have the less Sh*t you have to eat. 

I feel sorry for the workforce, they have been done up like a kipper or is  Bulga Cavier (if thats how you spell or eat it)

[Big_M]

As a TVR owner for 6 years, it is a shame that the Blackpool factory no longer exisits.

I love our TVRs - both are more reliable than our Saab 95 and the Tuscan, which was a Smolenski produced car, is the best example of workmanship TVR have produced for years.  It is likely that a TVR will be in our garage while I can still get in and out of a car.

I don't know the ins and outs of the factory politics - but NS apparently still intends to manufacture TVRs - but outsourcing the build. 

He hasn't behaved with the welfare of his employees at heart - but then neither did the guys at Rover.  Infact I would say that a vast majority of business exist to make the owners wealthy rather than for the welfare of the employees.

Harsh - but that is life.

[Chrisgr31]

It's a disgrace that companies are allowed to get away with it.  I think you'll find it happens regularly.  Certainly we frequently find that companies which go bust owing us money at work reappear with the same Directors etc, in the same property, but no debts.

I suppose its those of us that work according to the rules that are the fools!

[Dickiex]

While I agree TVRs did not have the best reputation for reliability.  There are two reasons (not including the shabby treatment of the workforce)  why the British should be should be mourning the loss of TVR.

1. TVR had a tradition of designing beautifully styled modern sports cars.  While the rest of our small sports car industry seem fixated with building Lotus 7 copies or some other 1930's roller-skate (sorry Morgan).

2. Since the death of Rover and the selling of Lotus, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Roll Royce, Bentley etc.  to foreign companies.  TVR were the biggest British owned car manufacture (unless someone can tell be different).   

Does anyone know who is the biggest British owned car manufacturer, Westfield?

Dickie x

[Nobby Diesel]

It's a disgrace that companies are allowed to get away with it.  I think you'll find it happens regularly.  Certainly we frequently find that companies which go bust owing us money at work reappear with the same Directors etc, in the same property, but no debts.

I suppose its those of us that work according to the rules that are the fools!

The problem is that the rules do allow this to go on. It is the perverse way in which company law works, that allows this type of practice in the first place.

All the same, a shame to see TVR be rolled over like that.

[oldtimer]

TVR were the biggest British owned car manufacture (unless someone can tell be different).   

Does anyone know who is the biggest British owned car manufacturer, Westfield?

I can't remember their name, but isn't it the lot who build taxis?

[Dickiex]

Oldtimer,

I was ignoring LTI Vehicles as they are taxis rather than cars.  However you have a good point,  they employee 450 people so they must be our biggest 4 wheel road vehicle manufacture.

Dickie x

[mgmark]

TVR were the biggest British owned car manufacture (unless someone can tell be different).   

Does anyone know who is the biggest British owned car manufacturer, Westfield?

I can't remember their name, but isn't it the lot who build taxis?

They certainly claim to be

http://www.manganese.com/company_lti.php

"LTI (London Taxis International) is also the largest wholly British owned car manufacturer producing around 2,700 vehicles per annum."

By comparison, I think that Morgan produce a handful of cars a week

MG Mark

[Lorry]

Does anyone know who is the biggest British owned car manufacturer, Westfield?

LTI - London Taxis International, and they were bigger than TVR in terms of units.  Westfield has just been sold too, but bankruptcy isn't looming.

Sad to see TVR go, and why spend £40mil on it and trash it, just because thats what daddy did.

This is the way of the world at he minute

[mgmark]

It just gets worse......although I suppose if production does re-start in whatever form in the States, it will have a thumping big V8 in it.

http://www.pistonheads.com/tvr/default.asp?storyId=15955

MG Mark