Tanfield Group is the new company name of Comeleon. As I understand it, Comoleon was getting into trouble so TAN (paerent company?) took over. Since this has happened the share price has dropped by 0.25p each day for the last week or so (on average) and are now around the 3p mark with very little activity.

Does anyone know much about this company or previously held stock in Comeleon? There is virtually no info out there other than on the company website.

cheers

Mike

Stawbs .... when was the last time you actually bought instead of saying, "Oh I would/might buy if they were 50% cheaper still" or some such nonsense?

SEO this isn't .... company has a product that actually exists and sells!

lol

sorry mate. I knew you'd bite to that.

Just being mischievous.

Actually I placed a limit order to buy when I predicted they would reach 84....but that timed out after 3 weeks and didn't get filled. I was also tempted to buy at 75 (which I also predicted) but used the money to buy OXB instead (which has gone virtually nowhere since, but at least not down in the way TAN has). Maybe a lucky escape. Only time will tell.

Regardless of what the company has by way of a product, it's only worth what someone will pay for the shares. 10p might be ridiculous now, in six months maybe not. With TA you look for sensible (as you see it) entry points. Things obviously change though, so if they announce some sizable orders, and the chart establishes a new uptrend (higher lows, higher highs) then obviously I'd be interested in investing again. I'm only giving my opinion as of a single moment in time.....as many others do on here....

As always....In my opinion. ;-)

Strawbs.

u r last one to talk about bashing a share cynic......i can barely remember you saying nice things about any shares that i've looked into.

and i'm really surprised that u bought into this for one that is so cynical

anyway if u still got it, it now seems like a long term hold unless u want to bite the bullet

I've seen this movement before where a share bombs then recovers quickly thr' either a short cover or a seller cleared out. In my experience, the sp then improves over the next day or so.

The question is have I the confidence to chance it.

Only IMO of course.

i was not complaining that Strawbs was bashing at all .... i was merely observing that i had never known him to buy anything

ok cynic

i only seen odd post from strawb so cant really give an opinion.
yes, it is hard picking shares right now.....suppose old addage of long term hold and majority of time, everything will be ok......5 years for most shares

Quite right. I've abstained from buying anything for well over a year feeling the market is overdue a massive correction..... Since the start of the tax year though I've made a few small and selective purchases......probably just in time to see the whole thing collapse.... LOL :-)


Strawbs.

and i guess that over the last year you were arguably wrong to abstain .... from buying shares that is

I'm happy with my decision. If I'd held on to my original portfolio then some would've proved spectacular winners, and others spectacular losers. Who's to say which I would've kept and which I would've dumped over that time. I might've done way better.....or perhaps far worse. When I sold up it was for a healthy profit and was the right decision for me at the time. I still feel the market is due for a massive correction, but I do miss picking stocks (even the odd winning one), so I've decided to put a small amount of money to work and see how things pan out.

Strawbs.

The only market correction due at the moment is a massive one upwards. This is based purely on company valuations against their assets of the companies that I am invested in. I believe, the whole market is currently based upon pure corruption and the, lets rip them off brigade, to make their own profits and bugger the small company that then struggles to get finance because in the markets view, its worthless. At the moment all you have to do is buy a stock, preferably when it looks cheap and trade it on its next false rise induced by mm's to make them money.

Somebody has started to short again.

Had the confidence to buy in yesterday and just sold out. Not quite the profit I had but a profit nevertheless.

The company may be good but the share has an awful feel about it.
It does not look good.

Maybe it's not someone shorting.....just people (like yourself) taking a quick profit. Nothing wrong with that of course!

In my opinion...

Strawbs.

I think it's been very similar amounts traded.

I'm very aware this could bounce from here for the rest of the day but I couldn't take the risk!

I think Evil Knieval is shorting TAN.

I'm always looking short-term.

Expected this to bounce again or drop this pm.

It has done neither. Just sitting there like a lemon.

New battery with claimed range in excess of 200 miles for ev's

http://www.superlatticepower.com/20080602/index.html

Spark of genius could make Tanfield into a world leader
By Nigel Burton
Northern Echo
4 June 2008


The British motor manufacturing industry has been short of genuine world beaters in the past few years. But one company in the North-East may be about to change all that

VIEWED from the kerbside, the Edison looks like any other Ford Transit, albeit one named after the inventor of the longlasting electric light bulb.

Climb aboard, turn the key in the ignition and ... nothing.

There's no rattle of the starter motor, no diesel clatter and no shudder from the drive-train; the cab is eerily silent. The only clue that the Edison is ready to go is a small green light winking from the dashboard.

It may look like a workhorse but, in many ways, the Edison Transit is a Trojan horse - the perfect way to prove that electric vehicles can make sound commercial sense.

Smith Electric Vehicles, based in Washington, Wearside, is the world's largest manufacturer of electricallypowered commercial vans and trucks.

Started nearly 100 years ago by the family firm that gave the world Rington's Tea, Smith built milk floats, coal trucks and bread vans. Its biggest customer was the Co-op.

Post-war, the company built up a thriving business with its manufacturing facilities and a nationwide network of depots capable of servicing large diary fleets.

But, as doorstep deliveries dwindled in the early Nineties, the group diversified into more conventional-looking vehicles developed from standard commercial vans.

Early sales success was hard going. Before global warming, companies were not interested in converting from diesel to electric. Worst still, ancient battery technology limited performance and range.

Things did not really take off until the business was acquired by the Tanfield Group for 3.2m in October 2004.

Tanfield's founder and managing director Roy Stanley was convinced the market for electric vehicles was about to explode.

Shortly after the buy-out, he said: "I genuinely believe that this could be not just a business for the North-East, but an industry. It could be the best story to come out of the North-East since Nissan."

Four years later, and his prediction appears to be coming true.

Smith Electric Vehicles has a long way to go before it challenges Nissan's award-winning car plant in nearby Sunderland, but the figures are impressive nevertheless.

Turnover has increased tenfold, from 12m in 2004 to 123m last year. Production of vehicles has gone from a handful to 260 vehicles built and shipped last year.

In the first quarter of this year, 146 vans and trucks were completed and the group has a confirmed order book of more than 520 vehicles - enough to keep the 600-strong workforce at its factory in Washington busy for the rest of the year.

The new link with Ford could prove to be the turning point.

Company spokesman Dan Jenkins said: "The hardest market to sell to is the UK.

Ask someone over here to imagine an electric vehicle and they think of a milk float or, worse still, the Sinclair C5.

"Electric vehicles have a bad image. They're a bit of a joke."

Not any more. The Edison, and its smaller cousin the Ampere, look utterly conventional.

Anyone who has experienced a Transit or a Transit Connect can get in and drive them with no extra training.

Advances in battery power have given these vehicles more range (approximately 100 miles) and greater top speed.

Nor do the bulky battery packs take up valuable cargo space - the load floor on the Edison is completely flat whereas its predecessor had a pronounced hump in the floor where the cells were kept.

Darren Kell, Tanfield's chief executive, hailed the Edison as having "complete parity with the conventional Transit when it comes to cubic carrying capacity".

He said: "This brings us another step closer to offering a pure electric vehicle that has the same operating capabilities as a regular van, but with the added bonus of zero emissions and significant whole life cost savings."

BT Openreach, a division of British Telecom, purchased the first production models fitted with this lithium-ion battery technology. The trial was startling.

"Initially, drivers given the vehicles were the butt of jokes,"

said Mr Jenkins. "But, after a few months, BT had requests to switch from a conventional Transit to an Edison because the electric vans were quieter and nicer to drive."

There was another, more unusual, side-effect, too. Drivers who used the Edison swore they had more forward vision, which enabled them to spot potential hazards and take avoiding action in good time. They had not, because the cabs are exactly the same.

"Because the drive was so much quieter and smoother they could focus on driving without the distractions of engine noise and vibration," said Mr Jenkins. "In effect, they became better drivers."

Since then, other major corporate customers have placed orders. Sainsbury uses the Edison to deliver groceries to internet shoppers and TNT ferries parcels to in-town destinations.

Both the Edison and the Amphere are restricted to urban environments (a legacy of the 100-mile range between over night charges) but this will change as the battery technology continues to improve.

Strangely, Tanfield has Apple to thank for this sea change in performance.

Batteries have improved mainly because of unprecedented demand for iPods that are smaller and capable of playing for longer.

Tens of millions have been poured into research that has led to huge strides in battery density. Today's cells run for longer and recharge faster.

When they are scaled up for use in electric vehicles, the result is more performance and greater range.

The Ampere is the first electric vehicle that has a top speed of 70mph and a range of more than 100 miles on a single charge. The 50kw motor needs very little routine maintenance and maximum power is available instantly, unlike a conventional engine.

Fault-finding is easier, too.

The vehicles have indicators linked to software, which monitors the battery, and a conventional fuse box rather like a modern house consumer unit for when things go wrong.

The current manufacturing plant - a former LG microwave oven factory in Washington, that covers the equivalent of seven football pitches - has the capacity to make 30 vehicles a week. That is good, but Tanfield has far more impressive figures in mind.

Mr Jenkins said: "There are 500,000 commercial vehicles operating within the M25 alone. Our vehicles don't pay the congestion charge, don't need an MOT and cost a few pennies per mile to run. The argument for switching to electric is overwhelming."

But the British market could be a drop in the ocean if Tanfield can crack North America, the world's largest market.

Visitors to the firm's headquarters cannot fail to notice the large Ford truck parked in front. It is the first product of Tanfield's plan to sell trucks to US businesses built in a new factory in Fresno, California.

"The US trucks are easier to convert," said Mr Jenkins.

"Because they are so massive, we have no problems fitting the batteries. The response so far has been very positive."

One suspects California will be susceptible to the idea of electric trucks. The thirdlargest US state pioneered legislation on zero emissions vehicles more than a decade ago.

A bigger challenge lies ahead trying to convince cities such as New York to go green and Tanfield is working on an electric yellow cab.

Tanfield is pressing ahead on several fronts. Even before the US plant is in full swing, thoughts are turning to the Far East and a third factory.

Be under no illusion - the company is working on the cutting edge of electric propulsion technology. Tanfield's technical director Doug MacAndrew has an impressive CV, which includes stints at McLaren- where he worked on the 200mph McLaren Mercedes SLR supercar, something that is about as far removed from an electric van as possible - and Land Rover.

"We have already made huge strides," said Mr Jenkins.

"You only need compare our vehicles from five years ago with the modern ones to see how far we have come, but this is still only the start."

The major car manufacturers have been slow to embrace electric, but all the Japanese - and several North American - groups are pushing ahead with electric passenger vehicles.

When they do, the North- East can be proud of the fact that Tanfield got there first.

A British motor manufacturing world-beater? Thanks to the spark of genius running through Tanfield, the site in Washington could become exactly that.

4:04pm Wednesday 4th June 2008

got out too early yesterday and missed todays rise.

Don't get the impression this is being shorted any more. After saying that, even though the FTSE is down, I'm surprised this has now gone into negative territory.

65p now.