Some 4,000 UK workers in the supply chain that rely on troubled van maker LDV could be left jobless, it has emerged.
Administrators for the company have admitted some of the most likely buyers could move production overseas if they are successful in their bids to take over the firm.
More than 800 workers have already been made redundant after the Birmingham-based manufacturer went into administration earlier this month. But a further 4,000 jobs along the supply chain that rely on LDV are in danger.
Mark Hopkins, director of professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, which is overseeing the sale of the collapsed firm’s assets, said interested parties would be invited to submit formal bids in a week’s time.
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“Some of the initial plans for LDV submitted by interested parties have expressed an interest in continuing manufacturing in the UK,” Hopkins told the Guardian. “Other plans do not envisage dedicated manufacturing in the UK.”
Around eight companies had signed confidentiality agreements allowing them to conduct more due diligence on LDV’s finances, including Malaysian vehicle distributor Weststar, which had tried to buy LDV before it went into administration.
