Tanfield Regulatory News (TAN)

5 Dec 2006 10:52

Tanfield Group PLC05 December 2006 Tanfield Group plc ("Tanfield" or "the Company") Trading Update The Directors of The Tanfield Group Plc are pleased to announce a strategicopportunity with two of the world's leading logistics and express operators, TNTExpress and TNT Logistics. TNT today launches its trial of the first two Newton vehiclesfrom Smith Electric Vehicles. Both will be deployed in and around London. Newton is the world's first high performance 7.5 tonne electric, zeroemission vehicle. TNT Logistics will use one Newton as part of its contract with coffee retailerStarbucks, based at a depot in Basildon, Essex. TNT Express Services UK &Ireland will use the other Newton for business-to-business parcel delivery, on aroute into central London from Barking. TNT Express has indicated that, following a successful limited trial period, itsrequirement for a UK rollout would be at least 200 Smith vehicles and that itwill examine significant further deployment opportunities for its overseasoperations. TNT Logistics will similarly further examine its requirements for Smithvehicles, following the trial. Darren Kell, Chief Executive of The Tanfield Group Plc, said: "We are delightedto supply the first of our new technology vehicles to TNT. "This further demonstrates the market interest in our products and providesinsight into the latent demand for zero emission commercial vehicles. "Smith Electric Vehicles is the world's largest manufacturer of road-goingcommercial electric vehicles, in what has the clear potential to be anincredibly fast-growing industry." Tom Bell, Managing Director of TNT Express Services UK & Ireland, said: "This isa huge step forward for our fleet in London. Not only is this one of the mostenvironmentally friendly vehicles on the market, there are also potentialsignificant cost savings in the long-term. "If we extended this to 10 per cent of our fleet in urban locations, the costsavings to the company would run into millions of pounds." Neil Crossthwaite, Managing Director of TNT Logistics, said: "We have allocatedour first zero-emissions vehicle to the fleet we operate for Starbucks, a clientwhich shares our commitment to minimising environmental impact wherever we can.I am sure that other clients will be keen to become involved at the end of thetrial." Enquiries: Darren Kell, Chief ExecutiveTanfield Group plc Tel. 0845 155 7755 Ruari McGirrDaniel Stewart & Company plc Tel. 020 7776 6550 ENDS This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange