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Newspaper launches fight to save iconic car firm

A regional newspaper has launched a campaign to safeguard the future of car manufacturer Lotus and its 1,200 employees in Norfolk.

The Eastern Daily Press has joined forces with local MPs to pressure the Government to keep the firm in Norfolk after its mother company Proton was bought by the conglomerate DRB-Hicom.

This has in turn led to speculation that Lotus may be sold on to a firm that that will wind-up its operations in Norfolk, with Proton officials rumoured to be courting potential Chinese buyers.

Now the paper is teaming up with Norfolk MPs to push the British government to do all it can to ensure the iconic British car maker remains here.

EDP editor Peter Waters said:  “We felt we had to begin a front page campaign to keep Lotus in Norfolk because we fear that a deal is being done that could adversely affect more than 1200 Norfolk families.

“We simply don’t know, because the new owners are saying nothing about their intentions. Our worst case scenario is a deal with the Chinese that closes the factory and has it packed up and shipped to Asia with the loss of those jobs.

“We want to ensure any potential deal is aired publicly rather than being handed a fait accompli.

“Lotus is an iconic brand that brings prestige to Norfolk, but more importantly it employs a huge number of people in the vital engineering and manufacturing sector and the business is worth more than £60m a year to the local economy.”

South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon has already sent a letter about the issue to Prime Minister David Cameron, his chief political fixer Ed Lewellyn and the most powerful civil servant in the land, cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood.

In it he asks him to put all possible pressure on the Malaysian government to ensure that DRB-Hicom only permits the sale of Group Lotus to a bidder who will provide credible guarantees for the future of the business as an ongoing concern in Norfolk.

After being questioned by Mr Bacon in Parliament, the Prime Minister confirmed he had discussed Lotus with his Malaysian counterpart and the firm’s new owners.

A group called New Anglia is also looking to set up a dedicated ‘Lotus response group’ which will be tasked for making the case to keep Lotus in the UK and also drawing up any contingency plans should the need arise.

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  • April 24, 2012 at 10:10 am
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    Good campaign. I particularly like the in-your-face challenge for the firm to declare its’ intentions. Don’t allow them to hide behind a wall of silence without shouting about it and drawing attention to their say nothing stance. It speaks volumes about them and their intentions.

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  • May 30, 2012 at 1:09 pm
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    Does anyone really believe that an Asian behemoth like Tata is going to comply with any suggestions from a Norfolk rag which can be picked up for free in any local McDonald’s? I feel sympathy for all those going to be affected, but campains such as these from provincial newpapers belong in the 1980s. If the EDP can’t influence a local crab industry, they are whistling in the wind with Lotus.

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