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

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.

now 74.5p - shorters pulling out ?

Some investors have started to question whether the Tanfield story is fuelled more by hype than reality. A fascinating two-way pull has developed between Tanfield's supportive investors and a number of hedge funds and individual traders who have been aggressively shorting the shares.

Following the release of its annual results in April, analysts raised a number of concerns about the company's lack of disclosure and its high rate of cash burn.

At the time Chris Dyett, an analyst at Investec, said Tanfield was good at trumpeting its new customer wins, new products and future potential, but was "light on firm detail".

No position in TAN but FWIW: Clear divergence on the chart and the MACD which would seem to indicate that the SP has or is close to bottoming out. The recent small recovery needs to breach 86-90p for the downtrend to be broken, however, if going long set a stop at 55-60p to minimise the damage in the event it reverses. Personally, I don't think this is a share to play with at the moment considering the comments posted above re transparency, operational cash flow and profits.

"Tanfield is seeking to repair its relations with the City by appointing a "tier one" broker and bringing in a heavyweight non-executive director. In the past the vehicle manufacturer has been criticised for poor investor communications and disclosure. A source said: "They're looking to add another advisor rather than replace one of the existing brokers but they've not yet come to a final view." The move comes following pressure from leading shareholders who have expressed discomfort about the company's share price, which has fallen by 65 per cent over the last year."


they sure as hell need to do something!

u still got this dog of a share which has money issues

this crap share down again.....maybe back to 10p?

looks like the next leg down has started.

yes....to 10p!

Scotinvestor,

If you have nothing worthwhile to say then please keep it to yourself!!!

i am saying something worthwhile if i'm warning people of the decline of this share.

down down down

I think investors are more than aware of the situation regarding Tanfield and can make their own decisions without your meaningless input.

oh touchy! maybe u r counting your losses now

Perahps if you based your idiotic assumptions on either fundamentals or TA, readers of the thread would read your comments with interest, otherwise your posts are indeed a complete waste of time. Actually I suspect your ill-informed comments are based purely on the fact Cynic is a holder and you are attempting to 'rub his nose' in a losing position, sums you up as a person quite well I think.

PTH and others .... thanks for your support or comfort or whatever, but please do not put yourselves out ..... i am afraid the world is all too full of bigotted and contemptible numbskulls such as "woaded one" and to be honest, his blatherings and snipes are as water off a duck's back

64p looks a tad high for this outfit, although many punters are often excited by this stock. Their electric vehicles are really "social buys" for companies in London it used to be the case they avoided congestion charges and parking agro...an excellent reason . . . .yet I read in The Londoner, that electric vehicles are having their parking-free "perk" removed quite soon......hardly a ruse to encourage EV's....just shows that you can never trust any Govenrment body.
In reality, IF electric vehicles are the way forward then Ford/Toyota (etc.) will soon offer them and TAN will find production in Newcastle(?) is hugely expensive.

The tie-up with London Taxis makes some sense, but I doubt it will result in much of practical use at an affordable price. The fact is that "people carriers" meet all the needs for taxis and can be serviced almost anywhere.
Sad to see the end of the Black cab ( and the Routemaster when Boris finds out the cost!).