Discussion
Anyone shed some light on this? I plucked it from the MG forum today
From the Blackpool Gazette...
New car firm talks
By John Rhodes
BLACKPOOL'S shattered car industry could be offered an amazing rebirth.
Talks – today described as "exciting" and "hugely encouraging" – are under way to bring two of the most famous names in British motoring to the resort. If they come off, cars with MG and Riley badges will be built at a new factory in Blackpool.
The shock news comes just a week after bosses at Blackpool sports car firm TVR, which hit the wall last year with the loss of 260 jobs, confirmed it would not be returning to the resort.
William Riley, the man behind the dream, and a member of the famous Riley automotive family, has now been offered a six-acre plot of land at Bispham Technology Park on which to start building the high quality, top range sport cars.
He plans to:
Buy out the MG Sports and Racing brand which went into receivership with the rest of the Rover empire.
Build a new eco-friendly Blackpool factory, part of a "twin centre" production facility with another factory in America.
Recruit ex-TVR workers – hopefully 100 by the end of the year.
Build a mixture of high performance MG sports cars for the niche performance market, together with handbuilt Rileys.
Produce around 1,800 cars a year by 2010 – the same number TVR was making at its peak.
The talks, which began in Blackpool on Thursday, are at a very early stage.
However, Mr Riley, 62, who has a wealth of experience in the worldwide automotive industry – particularly in China and the UK – is so impressed with the Blackpool set-up he has already asked the council to draw up a contract for the land in Bispham.
He is confident of securing a deal with receivers PriceWaterhouseCoopers to buy the MG sports brand. He already owns the rights to Riley after acquiring it from BMW/Rover in 1999.
The famous name last produced a car in the late 1960s.
Mr Riley, who heads up Worcestershire-based Cranhills International Consultants Ltd, and is putting the deal together with the Royal Bank of Scotland, estimates it will cost him between £2m and £6m to get the Blackpool operation up and running.
In an exclusive interview with The Gazette, Mr Riley said: "I've been involved in cars all my life and I'm very excited by this project.
"I hope to close the deal within the next seven to 10 days and then start moving cars up to Blackpool almost immediately."
If this happens, Mr Riley would look to move into a temporary production facility, possibly a disused industrial unit at Squires Gate – a site once offered to TVR. He hopes to be in a position to conduct staff interviews within weeks.
His grand plan is to build high value British sports cars which would retail in the £60,000-plus bracket.
He feels there is a gap in the worldwide market for "genuine handbuilt cars".
Two models are planned to be produced in Blackpool – the MG X-Power SV and another premium MG X-Power roadster and coupe based on Italian designs and chassis, finished "with British styling and heritage".And it is the local skilled workforce, so cruelly axed when TVR went under, that attracts Mr Riley.
He revealed he did want to buy the TVR name before it was bought back by Russian owner Nikolai Smolenski last month.
Mr Smolenski now plans to build TVRs overseas.
Mr Riley said: "The workforce here has had a bad time over the last year.
"My grandfather used to bring me to Blackpool and I knew Peter Wheeler (ex-TVR owner) well. There is a proud history of producing specialist sports cars in Blackpool."
And in a message to ex-workers who may be tired of more talks of potential new car factories after the heartache of the TVR debacle, Mr Riley added: "I'm not a Russian businessman, I'm a cautious and serious British businessman who was born into the motor trade.
"I do not treat workers merely as hired labour – I treat them on a mutual basis of trust and respect."
Mr Riley said he was impressed by Blackpool Council's role in the talks.
Coun Eddie Collett, the council's deputy leader and cabinet member for regeneration, said: "We're very excited by these talks.
"If everything goes according to plan this would be fantastic news for Blackpool – particularly for the ex-TVR workforce. The council has been working hard to come up with a solution."
From the Blackpool Gazette...
New car firm talks
By John Rhodes
BLACKPOOL'S shattered car industry could be offered an amazing rebirth.
Talks – today described as "exciting" and "hugely encouraging" – are under way to bring two of the most famous names in British motoring to the resort. If they come off, cars with MG and Riley badges will be built at a new factory in Blackpool.
The shock news comes just a week after bosses at Blackpool sports car firm TVR, which hit the wall last year with the loss of 260 jobs, confirmed it would not be returning to the resort.
William Riley, the man behind the dream, and a member of the famous Riley automotive family, has now been offered a six-acre plot of land at Bispham Technology Park on which to start building the high quality, top range sport cars.
He plans to:
Buy out the MG Sports and Racing brand which went into receivership with the rest of the Rover empire.
Build a new eco-friendly Blackpool factory, part of a "twin centre" production facility with another factory in America.
Recruit ex-TVR workers – hopefully 100 by the end of the year.
Build a mixture of high performance MG sports cars for the niche performance market, together with handbuilt Rileys.
Produce around 1,800 cars a year by 2010 – the same number TVR was making at its peak.
The talks, which began in Blackpool on Thursday, are at a very early stage.
However, Mr Riley, 62, who has a wealth of experience in the worldwide automotive industry – particularly in China and the UK – is so impressed with the Blackpool set-up he has already asked the council to draw up a contract for the land in Bispham.
He is confident of securing a deal with receivers PriceWaterhouseCoopers to buy the MG sports brand. He already owns the rights to Riley after acquiring it from BMW/Rover in 1999.
The famous name last produced a car in the late 1960s.
Mr Riley, who heads up Worcestershire-based Cranhills International Consultants Ltd, and is putting the deal together with the Royal Bank of Scotland, estimates it will cost him between £2m and £6m to get the Blackpool operation up and running.
In an exclusive interview with The Gazette, Mr Riley said: "I've been involved in cars all my life and I'm very excited by this project.
"I hope to close the deal within the next seven to 10 days and then start moving cars up to Blackpool almost immediately."
If this happens, Mr Riley would look to move into a temporary production facility, possibly a disused industrial unit at Squires Gate – a site once offered to TVR. He hopes to be in a position to conduct staff interviews within weeks.
His grand plan is to build high value British sports cars which would retail in the £60,000-plus bracket.
He feels there is a gap in the worldwide market for "genuine handbuilt cars".
Two models are planned to be produced in Blackpool – the MG X-Power SV and another premium MG X-Power roadster and coupe based on Italian designs and chassis, finished "with British styling and heritage".And it is the local skilled workforce, so cruelly axed when TVR went under, that attracts Mr Riley.
He revealed he did want to buy the TVR name before it was bought back by Russian owner Nikolai Smolenski last month.
Mr Smolenski now plans to build TVRs overseas.
Mr Riley said: "The workforce here has had a bad time over the last year.
"My grandfather used to bring me to Blackpool and I knew Peter Wheeler (ex-TVR owner) well. There is a proud history of producing specialist sports cars in Blackpool."
And in a message to ex-workers who may be tired of more talks of potential new car factories after the heartache of the TVR debacle, Mr Riley added: "I'm not a Russian businessman, I'm a cautious and serious British businessman who was born into the motor trade.
"I do not treat workers merely as hired labour – I treat them on a mutual basis of trust and respect."
Mr Riley said he was impressed by Blackpool Council's role in the talks.
Coun Eddie Collett, the council's deputy leader and cabinet member for regeneration, said: "We're very excited by these talks.
"If everything goes according to plan this would be fantastic news for Blackpool – particularly for the ex-TVR workforce. The council has been working hard to come up with a solution."
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