Updated 8:51am 20 March 2010:

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John Cranage

John Cranage

Licensing system key to stopping dangerous lorries – Freight Transport Association

Unsafe overseas-registered lorries driven by over-tired drivers are giving the logistics industry a bad name even though the UK fleet is the best in Europe, the Freight Transport Association said yesterday.Read

Investors in protest meeting over West Bromwich Building Society losses

Investors who have lost money as a result of the recent deal to rescue the West Bromwich Building Society are to hold a public meeting as part of a nationwide protest.Read

Book recalls workers’ co-operative that took over Triumph motorcycle works at Meriden

Welder-turned-businessman John Rosamund has written the first inside account of the famous workers’ co-operative that took over the Triumph motorcycle works at Meriden in the 1970s.Read

Car scrappage scheme puts brake on falling production in UK

The car scrappage scheme has put the brake on falling production volumes at UK assembly plants.Read

European and Chinese companies set to be automotive supply winners

European and Chinese companies dominate a list of more than 350 automotive suppliers likely to emerge as winners in the global consolidation of the sector, a report claims.Read

Conference set to tackle slump in commercial vehicle sales

The problems hitting the commercial vehicle sector will be the topic of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ second online conference to be staged this week.Read

Freight firms concerned by looming skills shortage

Freight Transport Association is warning of a looming skills shortage in the industry once the UK begins to climb out of recession.Read

John Cranage: Awaiting the full catastrophe

Stand by for one of the biggest tax grabs in history. The fact that public finances plunged £8 billion into the red in July – when the Treasury counts its corporation tax receipts – can mean only that taxes, direct, and of the stealth variety, will rise, regardless of who occupies 10 Downing Street this time next year.Read

Investors in deflation threat, says fund manager Threadneedle

Deflation will be the biggest threat to investors over the next few years, according to fund manager Threadneedle.Read

Owners planning to cash in warned they face a long goodbye

Many entrepreneurs think they can bid a fond farewell to their companies when the time comes to cash in.Read

Car dealer Lookers outperforms new car market

Lookers, the car dealer that operates a flagship Vauxhall franchise at Star City in Birmingham, outperformed the new car market in the first half of 2009 and has had a strong recovery in demand for used cars.Read

John Cranage: Lloyds bosses flailing around

It is tempting to think that Lloyds Banking Group’s apparent u-turn over its intention to close its Cheltenham & Gloucester branch network signals a change of thinking in the nation’s boardrooms.Read

CBI Industrial Trends Survey says economic outlook may be improving

The outlook for manufacturers is the “least negative” since the summer of 2008, according to the latest Confederation of British Industry’s Industrial Trends Survey released yesterday.Read

Tooling firm Hampson’s recovery held up by aircraft project delays

Delays in some major aircraft development projects are hampering Black Country aerospace tooling specialist Hampson Industries’ efforts to pull itself out of recession.Read

Car dealership calls for more time on scrappage

Midlands-based car dealership Pendragon called on the Government to extend the car scrappage scheme after seeing improvements in both the new and used vehicle markets.Read

Birmingham Chamber hoping to see low interest rates held

The lack of movement in the consumer prices index (CPI), the Government’s preferred measure of inflation, took business by surprise.Read

John Cranage: Hudson provides hope for Hampson

Employees of Hampson Aerospace Machining, the Birmingham-based engineering specialist whose precision components go into many jet engines, could be forgiven for being a bit nervous about their future.Read

Darwin expands with purchase of Hampson Industries subsidiary

Black Country aerospace and automotive group Hampson Industries raised £23.7 million yesterday from the sale of a subsidiary to a private equity group that includes engineering specialist John Hudson.Read

Hill & Smith bearing up in niche markets

Hill & Smith Holdings, the engineering group chaired by West Midland industrialist David Grove, proved the value of operating in virtually recession-proof niche sectors with a strong set of interim figures yesterday.Read

Automotive industry is facing a global shift

The global automotive industry is facing a “huge upheaval” as part of the shift in production and sales to emerging markets, according to international consultants Arthur D Little.Read

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John is The Birmingham Post's automotive correspondent and personal finance editor.

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