16/03 (18:42) NEW BOSS FORESEES `SIGNIFICANT' WORK FORCE AT LONGBRIDGE
By Sherna Noah, PA News
The man on whose shoulders the fragile future of Rover now rests appeared
relaxed when he told a horde of reporters failure was not an option.
Mini-driving boss of venture capital firm Alchemy Jon Moulton was challenged
to give workers at Longbridge some idea about their future, and said on live
TV that most jobs would be safe.
He said: "We are going to be able to sustain a significant work force at
Longbridge. The work force will be in rewarding and enjoyable jobs with some
security. Not all of them will be in that position but a good number will
be."
When pestered by reporters on whether he would drive a Rover, he offered
nothing to those hoping for a quick turn around of Rover's image.
He said: "I already do drive a Mini. I will be sticking with my Mini."
Later he said he would drive a Rover but "I prefer a Mini but then again I'm
a very quirky individual".
Mr Moulton conceded that there were problems with Rover's image.
"But we're going to call them MGs," he joked. "The name Rover clearly has
been very badly tarnished over recent times and that's the reason why we will
migrate new models towards the MG."
The city financier whose company turned around restaurant chain Fatty
Arbuckles appeared to be a man with a passion for risk taking.
He said: "All of our investments are gambles." But this was not the biggest
gamble of them all, he said.
Standing on the steps of Alchemy in central London he quashed rumours of
being a motor racing enthusiast. "I absolutely wasn't. It annoyed me."
Challenged by reporters, he said his company had no experience in the car
industry: "I have made a car but not on this scale."
However, "we have followed the car industry very closely for a long time".
The Land Rover was out of reach for equity specialists Alchemy Partners,
despite BMW's decision to sell the profitable name today.
Mr Moulton said: "We would have loved to buy Land Rover but we are short of
the odd couple of billion dollars."
He revealed that the deal to buy Rover was hatched in October last year.
He would now be meeting Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers but would
not be asking for Government money.
He said: "We wish we were important enough for Byers to come to us but we're
going to him."
He said he did not know how long it would take to turn Rover around - "We're
not that clever."
The turnaround in fortune would be achieved by renaming newly-manufactured
cars.
Mr Moulton said: "We are certainly going to be keeping the Rover name on the
older cars, the newer cars will not have the Rover name."
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Léon
Triumph Sports Six Club
International Liaison Secretary
1963 Triumph Vitesse 2-Litre Convertible
Wimbledon, London, England.
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