Abbey Hill snags
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• The proposed acquisition of Abbey Hill Vehicle Services by TNT is being dogged by continued disagreement with the unions over negotiating procedures, and suggestions that Abbey Hill is facing severe financial difficulties.
TNT's new general manager Bill Hanley says negotiations with Abbey Hill are at an advanced stage. "We don't foresee any problems with the unions," says Hanley. "We think we can come to some amicable agreement."
However, the TGWU is less optimistic about an agreement being reached. Regional officer Dave Bolton says the negotiations between the union and Abbey HilliTNT are at "a very, very delicate stage".
TNT wants the 1,(X)0-strong Abbey Hill workforce to join the centralised negotiating procedure which operates within TNT. The union is unhappy about this because the agreement between TNT and its workforce differs markedly from pay and conditions agreements operating in the car transporter business as a whole.
At a meeting between TNT and the union in Yeovil, Alan Jones, managing director of TNT, said that radical changes in negotiating procedures, including the ending of all restrictive practices, are needed if his company is to go ahead with the purchase of Abbey I At the same meeting, Roger Bastable, owner of Abbey Hill, told the union that the deal with TNT would be called off if the unions failed to agree to the ending of restrictive practices. He warned that the liquidator would be called in at Abbey Hill if TNT pulled out of the takeover.
Dave Bolton and his officials are hopeful that sonic agreement can be reached, but he concedes, "We are a long way from reaching an agreement. We have got to try to see if there is a bridgeable gap," he says. 'There are serious differences of principle between the two sides."
One factor which may speed an early agreement between the unions and TNT is the worsening financial situation at Abbey Hill Vehicle Services.
Bastable and Abbey Hill's managing director, Brian Rousell, have told the union that the company is facing severe financial problems.
They told TGWU officials that Abbey Hill had exhausted its loan and borrowing powers. TNT had provided the company with a two-year, .£2 million guaranteed loan, but an investigation by TNT's accountants (McClintocks) into Abbey Ifi11's financial situation showed that up to .215 million was needed to put the company back on a secure footing.
Last year Abbey Hill had a turnover of £40 million and transported 550,000 cars. Its clients include BMW, Ford, Honda, Freight Rover, Bedford Commercial, Vauxhall and Iveco.