Darwen Share Discussion Threads

[noshy] 22/5/2008 17:08

sandbank
and now I can use it when we country bumpkins go up to the big city....

[sandbank] 22/5/2008 16:13

MTG: LOL and best respects to a fellow pass-holder. Sorry LEIGHBARTON, sounds like you're one of the generation which is paying for all our OAP fun :-)

PS: Normal Estonian F1 driver on duty today - ride was much smoother but less exciting.

[leighbarton] 21/5/2008 14:54

...and by the sounds of things have all the fun of a fair ride as well. All the way through life your generation has had everything!! ;-))

[m.t.glass] 21/5/2008 14:46

I am waiting for Roy to fit all his buses with wi-fi facilities, and for all services to include them. Then I can play the markets AND ride around for free ;o)

[leighbarton] 21/5/2008 14:39

MTG with your bass pass I'm surprised you have any time for the screens and aren't out visiting all those places you meant to, but never have, seen!!

[m.t.glass] 21/5/2008 12:59

Some folk pay good money for that kind of fun at fairgrounds. Here you are getting it thrown in as part of your daily commute and still you moan :-o

Now that I have my bus pass, I look forward to old ladies being thrown in the air and landing on my lap.

And anyway - what was your driver doing going fast enough for speedbumps to hurt? Surely the whole point of speedbumps is to slow him down to walking pace - so that I can get to the next bus stop before he does.

[sandbank] 21/5/2008 12:40

OPTARE: Well I expect you're all keen to know how this morning's trip to the office went - on board an Optare bus. ...After all, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. (Don't invest in MKS without visiting the store first and don't fly with BAY before sampling Terminal 5 etc etc )

Today I sat in the rearmost seat of the Optare as it tackled a series of road humps - with a British driver (as opposed to an Estonian) at the wheel.

Frankly, the ride was terrible. Not only do the rear springs appear to react violently to road humps - but the upward momentum is compounded by a kind of leverage effect for people sitting the back seats. In fact an elderly lady passenger and I were catapulted upwards with such force we were weightless for a brief moment before crashing down on our seats again. Indeed, I feel shorter now than I did before breakfast.

Surely someone somewhere should be developing a more road-hump-tolerant passenger-friendly suspension system for the Optare range. And, bearing in mind the injuries passengers received in a bus crash (not an Optare) in London this week (1 killed 18 injured) - maybe it's time for another look at better padding and fewer hard surfaces in all service buses.

[m.t.glass] 19/5/2008 13:36

OK. So things are probably as we previously thought they were.

It just had me wondering whether - during the known negotiations - there had maybe been some change of plan. But presumably not.

[leighbarton] 19/5/2008 13:15

MTG - I think this is you misreading the article, or to be polite the article is poorly phrased. No doubt that this deal is about Optare and Darwen, but negotiations are with Jamesstan who own the majority of the Optare business.

[m.t.glass] 19/5/2008 11:51

Hmmm... now, what do we make of that???

We knew already of the possible/probable reverse t/o of Darwen by Optare - but this article almost seems to be suggesting that it is Jamesstan (Optare's current/temporary owner) which will be the party involved in coming to market, not Optare.

Or is that just me reading it wrong? Or the newspaper getting a bit confused?

[m.t.glass] 19/5/2008 11:47

Blackburn-based coach builder is powering on
By Ben Briggs
9:49am today

A COACH builder is in talks over a possible takeover just two months after floating on the stock exchange, company chiefs have confirmed.

Darwen Holdings is the parent company of the Darwen Group, the firm which took over East Lancashire Coachbuilders based in Whitebirk Industrial Estate, Blackburn, last August.

Chief executive of Darwen Holdings, Andrew Brian, revealed that the company was discussing potential takeover options with Jamesstan Investments Ltd, owner of fellow bus builder Optare.

Darwen Holdings floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange in March, but shares were suspended at the start of May as rumours grew over the future of the company. Mr Brian said: "Optare is a very highly regarded brand within the industry and the deal we are discussing would present a very exciting opportunity for us, our shareholders, and all related parties.

"The deal is in line with our strategy to grow Darwen through acquisition, alongside the organic progress we've made over the past year, and we look forward to updating the market in due course."

Darwen Group bought East Lancashire Coachbuilders and North West Bus and Coach Repairs, Appleby Street, in a multi-million pound deal in August 2007 after the firms went into administration. About 270 staff are employed between the two sites.

Any deal with Jamesstan Investments Ltd would be classed as a reverse takeover under AIM rules. This is where a smaller company takes control of a larger firm and in doing so often has to reorganise their finances to facilitate the deal.

Darwen Holdings specialises in the design, assembly and supply of single and double-deck vehicles to bus service operators in the UK.

At the time of the suspension of shares they were trading at 44 pence each.

[robow] 15/5/2008 17:26

Great find MT

[tevezunited] 15/5/2008 16:58

MT informative post thanks.I have a stack of these and back RS business projects.
I too was informed last week of May for re listing.
Thanks.

[leighbarton] 15/5/2008 16:17

MTG - many thanks for that, confirms what Stanley said in March, but good to hear it from the management themselves. Employing TAN's assembly line business model must make sense and should allow them to have a lower cost base than their competitors.

Of course the really good news is with Boris as mayor he is committed to replacing bendies with double deckers and that should really play into our hands.

By sounds of things I will be away when these come back onto the market which is a pity, but there would appear to be more short term upside for shareholders which has to be good news.

[colonel rigger] 11/5/2008 01:00

Shakes2 - 10 May'08 - 22:29 - 158 of 158
Apart from having a punt at a poster what is the point of your diatribe?

I totally agree but if some idiot (sandbank) decides to post his pratish views, I am afraid if I do not agree with them, then I will post a response. So do not have a go at me, for posting a response to sandbank as he is the idiot ranting away, all I was saying is most other European countries do not mind using public transport, it is only the British who seems to favour the car. I buy shares in companies that I believe in that is why I buy shares in companies like Darwen & Tanfield & not just for profit!

[shakes2] 10/5/2008 22:29

Colonel Rigger
Apart from having a punt at a poster what is the point of your diatribe?
I am on these boards for info regarding shares not political views (Those I can get from any of a dozen rags)

[colonel rigger] 10/5/2008 14:50

sandbank - 10 May'08 - 13:17 - 156 of 156

I also don't like doing it because it's giving in to the religious zealots of the green lobby and their silly ideas;

Sandbank your views stink, if you go to other European citys i.e Stockholm, Sturgart, most of the members of the public catch public transport, in fact when I went to Sturgart to watch a football match the public transport was allowed to leave before the cars therefore most people caught the public transport.
I believe giving out free bus passes to OAP is about the only good thing the labour government has done, as they say if you don't use it you will lose it & by giving OAP bus passes more rural routes are busy & to be honest some of OAP drivers should not be driving on the road any way, most of them are nearly blind & have problems walking but are still driving!

[sandbank] 10/5/2008 13:17

Now that, alas, that I qualify for an OAP bus-pass I tend to leave my 14mpg 4X4 depreciating on the drive and travel to the office free-of-charge by Optare bus.

I don't like doing this in a way because I don't think I really deserve to travel anywhere at the expense of the taxpayer; we should have smaller government, lower taxes all-round, and no "free" anything.

I also don't like doing it because it's giving in to the religious zealots of the green lobby and their silly ideas; people who think regulations and restrictions solve problems rather than innovation and enterprise.

And most of all I don't like doing it because it's what Gordon Brown and his fellow communists want all of us to become - vassals of state, taxed to the hilt, hooked on handouts, robbed of freedom-of-choice and consigned to join the shuffling queues of our state-dependant society claiming back "benefits" and "allowances".

...but, if you have to travel by bus, the Optare is comfortable,quick and convenient...and it's amazing how they withstand the daily hammering they get from Estonian F1-wanna-be drivers and badly-maintained British roads..

[m.t.glass] 09/5/2008 13:06

09 May 2008
11:29am

Leeds bus builder Optare parts company with managing director


Optare has parted company with Bob Coombes.


By Nigel Scott
Business Editor

THE MANAGING director of Leeds-based bus and coach builder Optare, Bob Coombes, has lost his job following its acquisition in March.
Optare Holdings Ltd was taken over by Jamesstan Investments Ltd, a company controlled by North East businessman Roy Stanley.

A statement from the firm said that since Jamesstan's acquisition a restructuring had taken place and the position of managing director of Optare Holdings Ltd had been made redundant.

"A mutually amicable agreement has now been reached with Bob Coombes who wishes to express his appreciation to all his staff and colleagues at Optare for the support he received during his five years as managing director," the statement said.

It continued: "The company wishes Bob every success in his future career and sincerely thanks him for his significant contribution to the advancement of Optare as a leading manufacturer within the European bus and coach industry."

Optare employs around 550 staff and has a turnover of around £60m. It is best known for supplying buses to Stagecoach, Go-Ahead and First Group.

The company is developing hybrid diesel electric buses which do less harm to the environment.

The firm is looking to move from its HQ in Cross Gates to a new location in West Yorkshire and Leeds City Council has previously rejected a planning application to build nearly 300 homes on the site.
Optare also has a manufacturing plant in Rotherham.

At the time of the deal announcement the firm said Mr Coombes and the rest of the management team would remain with the business.

Optare's chairman Russell Richardson joined Mr Stanley on the board of Jamesstan as a non-executive director following the deal.

Optare was formed in 1985 by staff from the former Charles H Roe company, which had been closed by its owners British Leyland the previous year.

The Roe company had been based on the Leeds site since 1923.

Mr Stanley, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, is also chairman of the Tanfield Group, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market.

[m.t.glass] 09/5/2008 07:19

2trying - interesting stuff ;o)

[2trying] 09/5/2008 01:08

Cheers 9degrees - your reply is appreciated
glad i wasn't wasting my time posting !

just to add -

when Blackburn Transport got a new bus off East Lancs Coachbuilders ,
( in the bad old "thug" days ) - first thing our mechanics would do - stick in on the ramps ( man , they were big ramps - imagine , you are putting a decker up - quite a high shed ) - and strip the brakes to the bone , and rebuild .

Air brakes - think about the seals - did they trust the assembly - obviously not .


but - ( you knew i was going to say that )

when the mechanics got an Optare , or a Dennis Dart
it was sent straight out on the road .

but - repeat - you knew i was going to say that !

Optares - fabulous , a pleasure to drive - however -

Dennis Darts - ( are they the fire engine people ? don't know )
the "steering wheels" -front- were behind the steering wheel
very short wheel base - easy to manouvere - but the amount of crashes they had ( incuding me ) - because you thought you were driving your car , and you were not - false sense of security....bang .

[9degrees] 07/5/2008 06:38

2 trying - this is a good insight indeed -thanks
the whole manufacturing industry has changed - there is a different attitude amongst staff and management and the processes have advanced and improved for the benefit of all staff