800 jobs lost as last-ditch rescue hope vanishes for van-maker

Published on Monday 8 June 2009 19:08

THE worst fears of workers at stricken Birmingham-based van- maker LDV have been realised after administrators announced that most of the 850 employees have been made redundant.

The news came yesterday just hours after the firm went into administration on the collapse of a rescue bid. Last-ditch hopes were dashed after Malaysian company Weststar failed to raise funds to buy the business.

Rob Hunt, joint administrator and partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: "Due to the lack of funding it has, regrettably, been necessary to make the majority of the workforce redundant and we will retain a skeleton workforce of around 40 people to maintain the site."

Tony Woodley, joint leader of Unite, said: "This is a bitter blow for manufacturing and the West Midlands region in particular. However, LDV has been in a vulnerable situation for many years and today's sad announcement is not due to any lack of effort by either Unite or the government to find solutions.

"We must now redouble our efforts to give the beleaguered manufacturing industry the help it needs."

A spokesman for Russian giant GAZ, which owns LDV, said: "This is a sad day for the LDV workforce, suppliers and British manufacturing. Over the last few months, we have fought relentlessly to find a solution to ensure jobs and manufacturing remained in Birmingham.

"We have exhausted all possibilities, pursuing the possibility of a management buy-out, approaching numerous foreign investors, and holding extensive talks with government in an attempt to secure bridging funding through to a European Investment Bank loan, and later to allow negotiations with new investors to be completed.

"We have done everything we can to secure LDV's future in Birmingham but, unfortunately, time has run out."