Stonefield plays at brinkmanshic
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STONEFIELD VEHICLES suffered a body blow last week when Tozer, Kemsley, and Millbourn decided not to take up a £120,000 option on the company. A receiver has been appointed, and all but 14 of the 100 employees have been handed redundancy notices, reports ALAN MILLAR.
TKM's decision has come as a bitter blow to South Ayrshire, where unemployment is running at 13.5 per cent, but it has surprised few in the industry. Orders for the E1 2,500 Stonefield on/off-road vehicle have been slow, and there was little chance of the one-product company breaking even.
TKM spokesman Chris Tennant told CM that the product is still a good one, and he did not rule out the possibility of building it elsewhere if receiver Bill Brownlie gives TKM a chance.
Mr Brownlie, of Glasgow chartered accountants Ernst Whinney, still hopes to sell the Cumnock factory as a going concern, and has told management, unions, the local district council, and South Ayrshire Labour MP George Foulkes that he hopes to finalise arrangements "within weeks rather than months".
He is canvassing support among three or four firms which
had earlier discussions with the SDA, and is conducting a "general trawlof some 300 possible buyers of the business.
Failing that, the business will have to be sold in parts, with the possibility of the vehicle design being bought by another manufacturer. Presumably, this is where TKM might reappear on the scene, as it has said the vehicle could make money by 1983.
But the prospect of such an arrangement worries the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers, whose regional officer Tom Dougan told CM he was "most disappointed" by TKM's decision. He fears that the design may be sold abroad, possibly to Japan.
Mr Foulkes described his meeting with Mr Brownlie as very helpful, and said he was encouraged by the fact that he was trying to save the factory and the jobs of his constituents.
But he is critical of the Government's refusal to extend the SDA's support for the co pany, and pointed out that it not fit in with its stated policy supporting small businesses.
Since its formation in t mid-1970s, Stonefield has st ered from not having adequate marketing and d tributor network, and SD/ efforts, when forced to sell share in the company, w( concentrated on finding private sector partner whi could provide such back-up.
That must remain the prioi for Mr Brownlie if he is to SC the project from plunging ii obscurity,