MG Rover’s parent company has sold off more land at its Longbridge plant outside Birmingham in England’s West Midlands, raising £5.6 million ($US10 million) for the loss-making car maker, according to a Daily Telegraph report.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The newspaper, which has been closely scrutinising MG Rover finances and directors’ pay for some months, said the sale of the 18-acre site is the second land deal struck by MG Rover owner Phoenix Venture Holdings – in April 2002, the company sold off 42 acres of surplus land for £11.3 million.
According to the Telegraph, Rover has sold 18 acres at Longbridge to Advantage West Midlands, which bought 42 acres in 2002.
The paper said Advantage West Midlands is a local economic body which wants to establish a high-technology business park on the site [originally established as the home of the world-renowned Austin factory complex].
The Daily Telegraph said there had been fears that a new corporate structure set up in December 2000 could mean that the car company was not able to benefit from land sales but car unions were assured by Phoenix at a meeting in November that the proceeds from such deals will be used to help MG Rover.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataReflecting its recent investigations into the company’s finances, the paper noted that the four men who bought MG Rover have been criticised for making millions of pounds for themselves while the car company has posted heavy losses. Phoenix’s directors received £21.4 million in the 32 months to the end of 2002, including a £12.9 million trust fund for them and their families, the report added.
The Daily Telegraph also reported that MG Rover director John Towers has been made an honorary doctor in business administration by Coventry University. University vice chancellor Mike Goldstein reportedly said the [Daily Telegraph] reports had no bearing on whether Towers should have been given the award and reportedly added that the honorary doctorate recognised Towers’ contribution to the car industry and to the local economy.
Towers was nominated for the award by academics at the university in 2002, and picked it up at a ceremony in November, the Telegraph said, noting that he was given his award for a career that started at [Coventry-based tractor maker] Massey Ferguson and ended at MG Rover, where he led the original buy-out.
Towers was managing director of the Rover Group for a time in the late 1990s while it was owned by Germany’s BMW. After playing an instrumental role in the Phoenix Venture Holdings purchase of Rover from BMW in 2000 – for a token £10 – he was hailed as a hero by car assembly workers on his return to the Longbridge plant.
