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Motor 2004
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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Plymouth City Council has approved plans from Stuart's Commercial to set up a Volvo truck repair and servicing centre near the Crownhill Retail Park, with the creation of 30 jobs. 30-Dec-2004 Tunbridge Wells Mazda is to relocate its car dealership to Dowding Way in March, and the name is changing to Drake & Fletcher Mazda. 27-Dec-2004 Zytek has won an order to supply 58 engines for the new A1 Grand Prix motorsport series, and is about to consolidate its Sutton Coldfield, Nuneaton and Burton operations onto a new site in Lichfield early next year. 21-Dec-2004 General Motors has announced plans to shed 12,000 jobs in its European division, which is expected to include up to 340 jobs at its Vauxhall plant in Ellesmere Port. 20-Dec-2004 Allied Vehicles is to expand its taxi factory in Glasgow with the creation of 55 jobs, which will involve a £0.7m investment in new premises and equipment. 20-Dec-2004 Hertz, the car hire company, is to set up a 69,000 sq ft office in Uxbridge, in order to relocate staff from Hounslow and Heathrow. 20-Dec-2004 Calsonic Kansei of Japan is planning to transfer its European headquarters from Llanelli to France over the next two years, but the car components factory will be unaffected. 17-Dec-2004 Ford has secured a £4.5m government grant to go towards a £169m expansion project at its diesel engine plant in Dagenham, which will create 460 jobs. 17-Dec-2004 MG Rover is to recruit 200 engineering and purchasing staff in preparation for the joint development of four new cars with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation. 16-Dec-2004 Wabco Automotive is to shed 132 of the 235 jobs at its automotive components factory in Morley, Leeds, in order to transfer work to Poland. 14-Dec-2004 British Racing Drivers Club is to proceed with plans for a £60m commercial development programme at Silverstone, having secured the British Grand Prix for the next five years. 13-Dec-2004 Ricardo, the West Sussex-based automotive engineering company, is planning to recruit some of the 350 staff being made redundant by Group Lotus in Norfolk. 10-Dec-2004 Sytner, the car dealership, is preparing to relocate its head office to a 20,000 sq ft site at Grove Park in Leicester, and the 125-strong workforce is expected to reach 200 within two years. 07-Dec-2004 Hartwell Ford is closing its car dealership in Chippenham with the loss of up to 40 jobs. 06-Dec-2004 Lincolnshire Co-operative is to close its Wrights motor dealerships in Sleaford and Boston early next year, with the loss of 42 jobs. 03-Dec-2004 Invest Leicestershire is providing assistance to Chinese car parts manufacturer Asimco Technologies with plans to set up a European sales and management office, and a number of sites of up to 5,000 sq ft are being considered. 30-Nov-2004 Accident Exchange, the Birmingham-based vehicle accident management company, is planning to expand its vehicle fleet from 600 to 1,600 over the next 18 months. 29-Nov-2004 Sinclair Garages, the VW and Audi specialist, is to set up two car dealerships at the SA1 development in Swansea, with the creation of an unspecified number of jobs. 26-Nov-2004 Alexander Audi is to relocate its Huddersield-based Audi car dealership to the Trident Business Park on Leeds Road. 24-Nov-2004 Jaguar has unveiled plans for the development of a new science and business park at its site in Coventry, in order to create a centre of excellence for suppliers of automotive design and technology. 18-Nov-2004 Glas-Weld Scotland is to create about 50 jobs this year, having acquired the Scottish licence rights to US car windscreen repair firm Glas-Weld. 16-Nov-2004 Cosworth Technology, the Northampton-based supplier of high-performance engines, has been put up for sale by Audi with a valuation of about £50m. 15-Nov-2004 Lotus is to shed up to 350 non-manufacturing jobs at its Norfolk-based sports car business, in order to restructure its engineering consultancy operations. 15-Nov-2004 Preston Hall is to invest £0.7m in the expansion of its BMW and Mini dealership in Stockton, with the creation of ten jobs. 09-Nov-2004 Toyota has launched a recruitment drive across the Midlands for an additional 500 staff, as part of a £50m investment in its car manufacturing plant near Derby. 09-Nov-2004 The AA is to shed almost 400 jobs in Basingstoke and Farnborough, with administration, finance, marketing and PR being hardest hit. 05-Nov-2004 Newcastle Borough Council is considering plans from Fowlers Motors to build a new factory in Silverdale, Staffordshire, to produce taxis, with the creation of 120 jobs. 05-Nov-2004 RAC is expected to relocate its Lex Auto Logistics operations to smaller premises following the loss of its parts distribution deal with Leyland Trucks. 03-Nov-2004 North Tyneside Council is considering plans from Richville to build a car showroom at the Silverlink retail park, with the creation of 100 jobs. 03-Nov-2004 British Car Auctions has awarded a £6m contract to Clegg Construction to build a car auction centre in Bedford by summer 2005. 28-Oct-2004 Arvin Meritor is to shed up to 78 jobs at the Nicholsons car exhaust factory in Glasson Dock, Lancashire, in order to transfer some production to Cheadle and France. 25-Oct-2004 General Motors is to shed 340 of the 3,500 jobs at its Vauxhall car factory in Ellesmere Port, as part of a European rationalisation programme. 19-Oct-2004 Ford is to invest £115m in a new production line at its Halewood gearbox factory on Merseyside, securing the future of 700 jobs. 19-Oct-2004 Swindon Pressings is to shed a further 400 jobs at its automotive pressings plant in Swindon over the next 12 months. 18-Oct-2004 The AA is to close its tyre fitting units and most of its vehicle servicing centres with the loss of 900 jobs, while 50 sites and 400 staff will be transferred to Nationwide Autocentres. 12-Oct-2004 Jennings Motor Group has announced plans to set up a new multi-franchise car dealership in Sunderland next year, which could create more than 100 jobs. 11-Oct-2004 Lind Automotive Group has won permission to build a £8m BMW and Mini car dealership on the edge of Norwich by next summer. 05-Oct-2004 British Car Auctions has awarded a £6m contract to Clegg Construction to build a car auction centre in Ravensden, Bedfordshire. 30-Sep-2004 Schrader Electronics is to recruit extra workers at its factory in Antrim, having won a contract to provide tyre pressure monitoring systems to Mercedes. 24-Sep-2004 Nissan is to invest at least £100m upgrading its Sunderland plant, in order to produce a new people-carrier called the Tone. 23-Sep-2004 Ford is to withdraw from Formula One motor racing by putting its Jaguar Racing and Cosworth subsidiaries up for sale, casting doubt on the future of 800 jobs. 20-Sep-2004 Jaguar is to stop producing cars at the Browns Lane factory in Coventry, which will involve 400 voluntary redundancies, the transfer of 425 jobs to Castle Bromwich and 300 new jobs at Ford's Aston Martin site in Warwickshire. 20-Sep-2004 Faurecia is to shed 125 jobs at its car components factory in Coventry, in order to transfer the production of interior systems to a site in Lichfield. 15-Sep-2004 Driving Standards Agency has advertised a £50m deal to find five regional contractors to set up 60 new motorcycle testing centres by 2008. 13-Sep-2004 Alexander Dennis, the bus manufacturer, is to shed a further 200 jobs from its 1,500-strong UK workforce, which will affect plants in Falkirk, Larbert, Wigan and Anston in south Yorkshire. 09-Sep-2004 Land Rover has secured the future of 8,000 staff at its Solihull plant, following a productivity agreement between management and unions. 09-Sep-2004 Inchcape is to stop importing and distributing Ferrari and Maserati cars, as Fiat plans to take distribution back in-house from October. 26-Aug-2004 Carshock of Gosforth is planning to open a nationwide chain of 28 car showrooms by 2007. 23-Aug-2004 Assa of Sunderland is planning to create 40 new jobs over the next 18 months, having won a contract to provide training services to the automotive sector under the government's new Learndirect scheme. 23-Aug-2004 Jaguar is to cut car production at its UK plants for the rest of the year, but there is not expected to be any job losses. 20-Aug-2004 Daihatsu is to open six new car dealerships in Chatham, Liverpool, Lowestoft, Newbury, Maidstone and Nottingham, taking its total network to 117 sites. 13-Aug-2004 Tracker, the Uxbridge-based stolen vehicle tracking company with 220 staff, has been put up for sale by Apax. 09-Aug-2004 Michelin is to invest £14m at its tyre factory in Ballymena, in order to support 12 efficiency projects and introduce new technology to the site. 06-Aug-2004 Aston Martin is planning to increase its global network of car dealerships from 105 to 125 over the next six months, and plans to produce 5,000 cars a year at its new Gaydon headquarters by the end of 2005. 06-Aug-2004 Inchcape is looking to expand its car distribution activities in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, and is also seeking opportunities in China. 03-Aug-2004 Lotus is recruiting more than 100 manufacturing staff at its sports car factory in Norfolk, due to rising demand from the US. 02-Aug-2004 Arnold Clark is to acquire car dealerships in Nantwich, Winsford and Burton-on-Trent. 02-Aug-2004 Zeroshift of Milton Keynes is forming a joint venture with Ketlon to manufacture automatic car gearboxes. 20-Jul-2004 Arvin Meritor is to invest £3.6m in improvements at its heavy vehicle braking systems factory in Cwmbran, securing the future of 177 jobs. 15-Jul-2004 Listers is to set up a Toyota car dealership at the Eliot Park development in Nuneaton, while Research is to establish a Subaru and Isuzu dealership nearby. 14-Jul-2004 Pendragon is expected to be appointed UK agent for Cadillac cars, which will involve opening dealerships in London, Manchester and Birmingham. 01-Jul-2004 BMW is to invest £40m at its Swindon Pressings plant over the next three years, in order to supply the main bodywork for the new Mini convertible car. 30-Jun-2004 Driving Standards Agency is considering Newark as a potential location for one of 60 new motorcycle test centres. 30-Jun-2004 Rydale Cars is to invest £3m in the expansion of its BMW and Mini dealership in Oldbury. 25-Jun-2004 Calsonic Kansei, the manufacturer of automotive exhausts, has secured a £0.25m grant from One NorthEast to help with the relocation of 180 staff from Shildon to its factory in Washington. 25-Jun-2004 Stoneridge-Pollak, the automotive electronic components company with sites in Northampton and Cheltenham, is to set up a new headquarters for about 340 of its staff in Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, over the next 18 months. 25-Jun-2004 Centrica is in talks to sell the AA motoring organisation for up to £1.5bn, and a shortlist of bidders has been drawn up. 22-Jun-2004 Norfolk County Council and Group Lotus are to set up a £4m engineering centre of excellence next to the Lotus site in Hethel. 22-Jun-2004 Essex Ford is recruiting up to 40 staff for a new £3m Ford Transit and Mazda car franchise in Thurrock. 18-Jun-2004 MG Rover has agreed a strategic alliance with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation of China to launch a new model programme. 17-Jun-2004 ScootElectric, the importer of electric mopeds, is to raise up to £1m under the Enterprise Investment Scheme to fund the expansion of its dealer network. 14-Jun-2004 Mahle Filter Systems is planning to extend its automotive filters factory in Wiltshire, with the creation of 50 jobs. 10-Jun-2004 Key Safety Systems is to shed 152 of the 242 jobs at its seatbelt factory in Carlisle, in order to transfer production to Romania. 10-Jun-2004 ZF Lemforder is planning to invest £8.5m in the expansion of its automotive suspension parts factory in Darlaston, with the creation of 30 jobs. 08-Jun-2004 Bristol Street Birmingham has created 30 jobs at a new £2m Ford car dealership in West Bromwich. 03-Jun-2004 Toyota has announced plans to invest a further £50m at its car plant in Derbyshire, with the creation of 500 jobs. 28-May-2004 Wardle Storeys is to close its car parts plant on the Llandygai Industrial Estate in Bangor with the loss of 60 jobs, in order to transfer the work to its site in Earby, Lancashire. 28-May-2004 Gibbs Technologies is to expand production at its 100,000 sq ft Aquada amphibian sports car factory in Nuneaton. 26-May-2004 General Motors is to launch high-powered versions of its Vauxhall cars over the next three years, which will involve a new product development centre in Luton, new production facilities and a network of 75 dealers. 26-May-2004 Peguform UK is to close its automotive plastic components factory in Luton with the loss of 200 jobs. 24-May-2004 BMW is said to be planning to invest at least £20m in the paint shop at its Mini car factory in Oxford over the next two years. 24-May-2004 Nottingham City Council is considering plans for the relocation of the Mercedes-Benz car dealership from West Bridgford to a new showroom and regional headquarters in King's Meadow Road, with the creation of 100 jobs. 19-May-2004 HPI, the car information company, has been put up for sale by Phoenix Equity Partners with a price tag of £120m. 17-May-2004 Essex Ford is seeking permission to relocate its Basildon-based car dealership from Thundersley to Rayleigh Weir. 14-May-2004 Sytner has confirmed plans to open a £5.5m Ferrari car dealership at Lenton Lane in Nottingham later this year, which will involve the relocation of its Graypaul Ferrari-Maserati business from sites in Loughborough and Sheffield. 12-May-2004 Interleasing is planning to set up a new European headquarters near Birmingham Airport this summer, with the relocation of staff from Leamington Spa and its existing site in Birmingham. 11-May-2004 Arriva Vehicle Rental has started work on the development of a £0.5m rental centre in Sunderland, which should be completed by September. 07-May-2004 Jaguar is to shed more than 100 jobs of the 2,800 jobs at its car factory in Halewood. 07-May-2004 Ford has announced plans to create 600 jobs at its car engine plant in Bridgend over the next three years, following a £293m investment programme. 06-May-2004 Johnson Controls is to create 93 jobs at its automotive foams factory in Wednesbury over the next few months. 06-May-2004 European Motor Holdings is to set up a £3m BMW and Mini car dealership in Durham this year, with the creation of 40 jobs. 30-Apr-2004 The AA is to close its call centre in Erskine, but the 237 staff will be offered work at other Centrica offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh. 28-Apr-2004 Trelleborg Sealing Solutions is to shed 40 jobs at its automotive sealing systems factory in Newtown, Powys. 23-Apr-2004 Reg Vardy is to build a £10m used-car supermarket on a 16-acre site next to the Gateshead Metro Centre, with the creation of 100 jobs. 23-Apr-2004 CCM Motorcycles is expected to proceed with plans to set up a motorcycle factory in Haydock by the end of the year, having previously raised almost £1.5m from Merseyside Special Investment Fund. 20-Apr-2004 Reg Vardy is to open a new Fiat car dealership in Sunderland later this year. 20-Apr-2004 Mazda is planning to double its network of car fleet specialist dealers in the UK from seven to 15 this year, and its total UK network will rise from 140 to 157. 16-Apr-2004 Sumitomo Electrical Wiring Systems is to invest £2.2m in research and development facilities at its automotive components site in Ystradgynlais, securing 100 jobs and creating 15 new jobs. 15-Apr-2004 Radio Taxis, the London-based network of black cabs with 2,800 drivers, is planning to raise £10m in a demutualisation. 15-Apr-2004 Syd Brown & Sons is to close its car dealership at Longridge in the Ribble Valley, and some of the 20 staff will transfer to its Grimsargh Mitsubishi showroom. 14-Apr-2004 Kent Plastics has confirmed plans to close its car components factory in Fermanagh with the loss of 60 jobs, and the site will be acquired by supermarket chain Safeway. 13-Apr-2004 Islington Motors is to open a £1.5m Alfa Romeo car dealership in Melksham in June, with the creation of 20 jobs. 13-Apr-2004 General Motors is to close its Vauxhall V6 engine plant at Ellesmere Port in July, and 175 staff will transfer to the adjacent car plant. 13-Apr-2004 Grant Thornton has been unable to find a buyer for Warranty Holdings, the used car warranty company currently in administration. 09-Apr-2004 Johnson Controls is said to be considering plans to shed up to 100 of the 670 jobs at its motor components factory in Washington. 01-Apr-2004 Minorplanet Systems is planning to raise £12m in a share placing, in order to reduce debt and fund the development of its vehicle fleet management technology. 01-Apr-2004 Peugeot is to end the fourth shift at its car factory in Coventry in June, with the loss of 700 jobs. 26-Mar-2004 Marshall Toyota is seeking permission to build a £1.5m car dealership on the outskirts of King's Lynn. 19-Mar-2004 DaimlerChrysler UK Retail has won planning permission from Elmbridge Borough Council to set up a Mercedes-Benz Heritage & Technology Centre at Brooklands in Surrey. 19-Mar-2004 Midlothian Garages has shed 50 jobs at its car dealership in Huddersfield, following the loss of its Vauxhall franchise. 17-Mar-2004 David Prentice Cars is to invest £1.5m at its Portadown site and set up a new BMW and Mini dealership in Omagh, with the creation of up to 30 new jobs. 17-Mar-2004 Kirkby Central, the Greater Manchester-based operator of ten car dealerships with 250 staff, has been put up for sale. 16-Mar-2004 Diamonds of Hatfield, the MG Rover car dealership, has closed with the loss of up to 50 jobs. 16-Mar-2004 Manganese Bronze has announced a deal with TransPacific of the US to assemble taxis in Mexico, using kits exported from the UK. 12-Mar-2004 Meridian Technologies is to expand the workforce at its automotive instrument panels factory in Sutton-in-Ashfield from 31 to 41. 12-Mar-2004 Benfield Motor Group is to open a Volkswagen van dealership on a two-acre site at the Fossway in Newcastle in May. 09-Mar-2004 Chartwell Bodycraft is to relocate its car bodywork repair business to a new £2.5m site at Pride Park in Derby in August, with the creation of 16 jobs. 03-Mar-2004 Corus, the steel manufacturer, is planning to set up a £25m research and development joint venture with Warwick University to develop new techniques for the production of automotive materials. 03-Mar-2004 GKN is planning to transfer 20% of its automotive parts manufacturing to India, China, Thailand and Latin America over the next three years, which could lead to the loss of 2,000 jobs in western Europe and the US. 02-Mar-2004 Watts Tyres is to shed 30 jobs at its industrial tyres manufacturing plant in Gloucestershire in April, in order to transfer some production to Asia. 01-Mar-2004 Mayflower is said to be looking to sell Mayflower Vehicle Systems, the manufacturer of car panels and truck cabs, which could raise about £55m. 01-Mar-2004 Krupp Camford is to shed 90 jobs at its car components factory in Llanelli over the next few months. 27-Feb-2004 Derby City Council has sold the last available plot of land at Pride Park to Volkswagen Financial Services for the development of an Audi dealership with the creation of about 70 jobs. 26-Feb-2004 TK-ECC is to close its seatbelts and airbags factory in Dundonald with the loss of 550 jobs. 23-Feb-2004 MG Rover and Proton of Malaysia are planning to collaborate on a number of car production projects, but no further details have been released. 19-Feb-2004 Springfield is planning to spend £5m building two new Honda car dealerships in Newcastle this year. 18-Feb-2004 Volkswagen is looking to raise up to £250m from the sale and leaseback of some of its UK properties. 16-Feb-2004 ASL Systems, the Gateshead-based manufacturer of wiring systems for commercial vehicles, is to create 50 new jobs. 13-Feb-2004 Goodyear Dunlop is to shed a further 84 jobs at the farm tyre division of its Wolverhampton plant. 12-Feb-2004 Carmasters is to create 100 jobs in Bridlington this year, having won a contract from Northgate to refurbish former hire vans and cars. 12-Feb-2004 Hepworth Honda is planning to relocate its Huddersfield car dealership to a larger site on Leeds Road later this year. 10-Feb-2004 Manganese Bronze is planning to form a joint venture with China National Bluestar to manufacture taxis in China. 10-Feb-2004 Lookers is to open a £4.5m Vauxhall car dealership at the Star City centre in Birmingham in May. 05-Feb-2004 Automotive Lighting UK, the supplier of lights to the motor industry, is to close its factory in Cannock later this year with the loss of 370 jobs. 04-Feb-2004 JL French is creating 30 new jobs at its automotive engine and transmission components plant in Witham. 04-Feb-2004 PFK Ling is to set up a £2.5m Honda centre in Lowestoft with the creation of up to 60 jobs, in order to offer cars, motorcycles, quad bikes and jet skis. 02-Feb-2004 Multibuild has won a £2.4m contract to build a new car showroom in Liverpool for Williams Motor Group. 02-Feb-2004 Ford is to close its prototype vehicles factory at Aveley in Essex later this year, with the loss of 150 of the 550 jobs. 28-Jan-2004 TRW Automotive Aftermarket is to transfer its Luton manufacturing operation to the Czech Republic with the loss of up to 71 jobs. 23-Jan-2004 London Borough of Hounslow is considering plans from Audi to build a £14m flagship car dealership in west London, and Exterior has won the construction contract. 22-Jan-2004 Cotswold Group is to build a £4.5m BMW dealership in Gloucester by the end of the year, with the creation of 40 jobs. 19-Jan-2004 A1 Stretch is planning a £15m flotation on Aim in March, in order to fund the nationwide expansion of its limousine hire business. 19-Jan-2004 CD Bramall, the operator of 107 car dealerships, has received a takeover approach from an undisclosed company. 16-Jan-2004 Peugeot is planning to invest £25m at its Ryton car plant in Coventry this year, including the redevelopment of the paint shop area. 15-Jan-2004 Swindon Pressings is to shed 330 of the 1,800 jobs at its automotive pressings plant in Swindon. 15-Jan-2004 Northgate is to raise £15m in a share placing to fund the expansion of its van rental business in the UK and continental Europe. 15-Jan-2004 Reg Vardy has completed the acquisition of two Renault car dealerships in Edinburgh and Livingston from Renault Retail Group for £5m. 14-Jan-2004 DVLA, the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency, is planning to outsource its property portfolio, which could lead to the redevelopment of its Swansea headquarters. 12-Jan-2004 Drive Assist, the Tamworth-based provider of replacement vehicles with 750 staff at 18 sites across the country, has received a "significant" investment from private equity firm TA Associates. 09-Jan-2004 Warings is expected to win a £30m contract from DaimlerChrysler to build a heritage and technology centre at the Brooklands racetrack in Surrey. 08-Jan-2004 Jennings Motor Group is planning to open a car dealership in Middlesbrough in March with the creation of 30 jobs, offering a number of undisclosed brands. 07-Jan-2004 MG Rover has raised £42m from the sale and leaseback of its 228-acre Longbridge site to St Modwen, and the proceeds will be invested in its car manufacturing business. 07-Jan-2004 Interpublic is to sell the Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Oulton Park and Snetterton motor racing circuits to a new company called MotorSport Vision for an estimated £40m. 06-Jan-2004 Ricardo is to shed a further 80 jobs at its Sussex-based automotive consultancy business. 06-Jan-2004 Wolverhampton Council is to consider plans from Volkswagen for the development of a commercial vehicles outlet near Bilston town centre, with the creation of 28 jobs. 02-Jan-2004 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. Click here for further details Copyright UK Business Park 1995-2007