Administrators slash 156 jobs at LTI...

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PricewaterhouseCoopers, administrators to Manganese Bronze, on Wednesday said it had cut 156 jobs at the struggling maker of London's black taxis.

"Regretfully, without financial support to overcome the group's operational issues we have had to make staff redundancies," said Matthew Hammond, joint administrator and PwC partner.

The majority of jobs were cut at Manganese Bronze's manufacturing site in Coventry, while other positions have gone at dealerships across the country.

Britain's Unite union last week called on the British government to support the firm and protect the 300 UK jobs at risk.

The future of the company, which has been losing market share to Mercedes Vito taxis sold by Eco City Vehicles, has looked bleak since it was forced to halt sales and recall its latest model as a result of a steering box defect.

It suspended trading in its shares earlier this month after saying its financial position was unclear after the discovery of a safety defect in its new TX4 model.

"While the steering box recall remains, there is a voluntary suspension on vehicle sales, and we are now concentrating all resources on testing the solution to the steering fault," added PwC's Hammond.

"The retained staff based in Coventry will continue to focus on finding a solution for the steering fault alongside head office resource to keep the business running."

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Workers 'lock themselves' in black cab factory to protest redundancies

Workers at the troubled maker of London black cabs are believed to have locked themselves inside their factory after being told of job losses.

Coventry-based Manganese Bronze had to call in administrators after failing to gain new funding.

The union Unite expressed "outrage" that 156 workers were to be made redundant.

National officer Roger Maddison said the black cab was "part of Britain's car manufacturing heritage" and asked why the administrators PWC were "ruthlessly sacking over 150 highly-skilled workers".

"We believe this company has a future," he added.

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Source : Business Desk(May require sign up)

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Unions meet administrators over redundancies



Unions are meeting the administrators of Coventry-based taxi maker Manganese Bronze to see if redundancies can be suspended.

Administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has made 156 people redundant, including 99 of the 176 in Coventry.

Unite national union officer for the automotive industry Roger Maddison said they would try to find a way forward that does not cost as many jobs.

The city council fears Coventry will lose its last major car manufacturer.

The Coventry firm trades as the London Taxi Company. The remaining redundancies are at its dealerships.

Mr Maddison said workers were "shell-shocked" following the announced job losses on Wednesday afternoon, saying they were "fully prepared to talk to the company about any sort of saviour package".

'Devastating news'

He said if the company was to be sold, it "needs those highly skilled people still employed by the company, otherwise people are just buying bricks and mortar."

Labour councillor Lynette Kelly, cabinet member for development at Coventry City Council said she was angry with the way the workforce had been treated.

Ms Kelly said: "There were things we were told by the chief executive on Friday who reassured us, the unions, that there was a future for the factory, that they were confident this firm was going to continue.

"They were confident that people were going to continue in their jobs.

"Whatever was said on Friday obviously did not really reflect the true situation of this factory and it is devastating news for everybody that works here because the ones that aren't made redundant, they must be really concerned about their future.

"It's not good news for the city."

She said the council was going to talk to those being made redundant to see if their skills could be taken to other manufacturers as there is "demand for skilled workforce in the West Midlands".

An iconic company

Ms Kelly also urged the administrators to find somebody to take over the company as she feared Coventry was going to lose its last major car manufacturer.

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said that every redundancy is "extremely regrettable" for individuals and the wider economy, and she hoped for a turnaround.

She said: "In this instance, the blow is not the volume of redundancies, it is the fact that this iconic company finds itself in the position it is in currently.

"In the short-term, we are speaking to local partners around how the Chamber and other organisations might be able to help both the company and the workers.

"We will be speaking to the administrators to see how that could pan out but there are certainly many companies in this region who tell us that they struggle to find skilled engineers.

"There could be a chance to match some of those workers who are being made redundant to some of those posts that are available at other companies in the region."