Tanfield Regulatory News (TAN)

26 Apr 2007 07:01

Tanfield Group PLC26 April 2007 26 April 2007 The Tanfield Group Plc ("Tanfield" or "the Group") SMITH ELECTRIC VEHICLES SECURES CONTRACT FROM TNT EXPRESS Tanfield, the leading manufacturer of zero emission electric vehicles and aerialwork platforms, today announces that Smith Electric Vehicles has secured afurther contract to supply its electric vehicles to TNT Express for immediatedelivery. The electric vehicles will be deployed across the UK and trialled forthe first time in Europe. TNT Express UK has initially ordered fifty battery-powered Newton 7.5t trucksfrom Smith Electric Vehicles, a trading division of Tanfield. This contractfollows a six-month long trial in and around London, completed two months aheadof schedule, by TNT Express UK of the Newton, which was deployed in TNT'sdelivery and collection operations. Additionally, TNT Express has ordered a further five electric vehicles fromSmith Electric Vehicles for its first trial in mainland Europe. The vehicleswill be deployed in a variety of urban operations in Rotterdam, Holland and willbe a mixture of the Newton 7.5t truck and the Edison 3.5t van. Both electricvehicles use body shells that are universally recognised by the fleet driversand perform all the usual tasks of a conventional diesel vehicle. The Edisonelectric van utilises a Ford Transit body shell and was launched this week aheadof the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham on 24 April. TNT is a European market leader in global express, logistics and internationalmail services and has a fleet of 45,000 vehicles across Europe of which 3,500 isthe UK vehicle fleet. TNT Express UK has previously stated that it is committedto purchasing up to 200 Newton 7.5t trucks over the next two years, subject tothe results of the trial, which has now been completed. TNT is currently lookingfor further opportunities to deploy further electric vehicles throughout itsoperations in the UK and mainland Europe. The on-going trial with CEVA Logistics (formerly TNT Logistics) continues toprogress well. Darren Kell, Chief Executive of The Tanfield Group Plc, said: "The thorough trial conducted by TNT has demonstrated that our electric vehiclesperform superbly in urban areas, while also providing a compelling reduction inoperating costs and zero emissions. Our existing production facilities have the capacity for these vehicles andadditional volume orders. We believe that this order further validates ourstrategy of seeding electric vehicles with major fleet operators. We areconfident of receiving further volume orders both from TNT and other operatorsas current electric vehicle trials are concluded." For further information: The Tanfield Group Plc Tel: +44 (0)845 1557 755 Darren Kell, Chief Executive dan.jenkins@tanfieldgroup.com Charles Brooks, Finance Director Fishburn Hedges Tel: +44(0)20 7839 4321 Morgan Bone Mob: +44(0) 7767 622 967 James Benjamin Mob: +44(0) 7747 113 930 tanfield@fishburn-hedges.co.uk St. Helen's Capital plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 5582 Ruari McGirr Cenkos Securities plc Tel: +44(0)20 7397 8900 Stephen Keys website: www.tanfieldgroup.co.uk Notes to editors The Tanfield Group Plc is the world's leading developer and manufacturer ofroad-going commercial electric vehicles and aerial work platforms. Tanfield isheadquartered in Newcastle with operations in the USA and Japan. It has two maindivisions: Smith Electric Vehicles, was founded in 1920 and acquired by Tanfield in October2004. Since its acquisition, Smith is developing into a world leader in newtechnology electric vans and trucks with greatly enhanced performance, speed andrange capabilities. This makes them attractive for all fleet operators in largetowns, cities and closed industrial environment. For the first time, these fleetoperators have an economically viable, zero emission alternatives to usingdiesel vans and trucks. Smith has an unrivalled UK-wide service and supportnetwork, which already maintains over 5,000 vehicles for major fleet operators.This core element of the business is beginning to fulfil its potential in termsof addressing the requirements of large urban fleet operators, who want toreduce their operational costs and more importantly, greatly reduce their carbonfootprint. Smith's airport offering is complemented by two specialist airportvehicle sub-divisions; Jumbotugs and Norquip. www.smithelectricvehicles.com UpRight Powered Access, is firmly established as the UK's biggest manufacturerof self-propelled aerial work platforms (such as "cherry-pickers", "scissorlifts", "trailer mounts", etc) and UpRight is globally one of the industry'sstrongest aerial lift brands in what is a $7bn market. UpRight has assemblyfacilities in the UK and USA, plus a wholly-owned subsidiary in Japan. Productsare sold through a strong global network of over 150 independent, full-servicedistributors across Europe, North America, Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions.Tanfield has been successful in extending the UpRight product range andachieving significant increases in average weekly order intake, boosted in partby working at height regulations. www.upright.com www.aerialaccess.co.uk - ENDS - This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange