11th hour rescue for LDV

A statement from the west Midlands-based van maker, which employs 850 staff directly and supports hundreds of others in its supply chain, said it wanted to thank the government, local MP for Hodge Hill Liam Byrne “and all the key parties who have been involved in helping secure a future for LDV in Birmingham and British jobs”. The message, from the management team at the plant, went on: “We appreciate that this is a difficult time for the government, but this support allows time for negotiations to be concluded to secure thousands of British jobs, when the alternative would almost certainly have been the loss of them all. ”Last week the directors of LDV were forced to apply for administration to protect the assets of the business and a court hearing was processed this morning. Following the confirmation of Weststar as the investor and the support of the government last night, the decision was taken to delay this hearing until Wednesday 13 May, when the case to continue the business will be presented. ”It must be clarified at this point that whilst a sale has been agreed, it will take another few weeks to be completed and the loan from the government is to enable the business to continue operating whilst this process takes place. We need continued support from our employees, dealers and suppliers over this period to finalise this process and restart production and sales of MAXUS commercial vehicles. ”This is clearly a significant development for LDV and a major step towards an exciting new future but there are still major steps to be competed over the next few weeks. We will issue further communications as soon as they are available.” Messages on the company’s blog site expressed relief and support although a number made the point that workers were still awaiting the payment of overdue wages.