7:10 am, September 4, 2022
A new company has snapped up all the assets of sports car maker Westfield, which went into administration in June.
All the jobs – said to have numbered more than 50 – were lost ahead of Dudley-based Westfield Sports Cars and Westfield Autonomous Vehicles stopping trading.
But now some of the staff – if not all – will be re-employed.
Formed in 1983, Westfield grew over the years to eventually sell more than 13,000 cars across the globe, and had been making more than 400 a year for driving enthusiasts.
It bought Chesil Motor Company in 2019, and made two-seater kit cars as well as complete vehicles.
Meanwhile, the autonomous division was behind the Pod, as used at Heathrow to take people from the Terminal 5 business parking area to the main concourse.
It had been developing an autonomous road sweeper as well.
Latest accounts showed Westfield Sports Cars only had £25,722 cash at the end of 2021, while Westfield Autonomous Vehicles had just £1,839.
The sports cars division had £2.232m of stock and £1.765m of debts, and the autonomous vehicles arm had £1.16m of stock and owed £262,714.
MB Insolvency’s Mark Bowen was made the administrator, with creditors urged to contact this office via email.
At the time, Bowen was quoted by the Express & Star as saying: ‘Our focus is on trying to see if anyone is out there with an interest or appetite for resurrecting something.
‘There has already been a considerable amount of interest including in buying component parts and vehicles.’
He added that he was liaising with creditors as well.
Now Westfield Chesil Ltd, which was incorporated as NMNJC Ltd in July and changed its name on Tuesday (Aug 30), has stepped in to buy it.
Sole director and chairman Nigel Trilk was quoted by Insider Media as saying: ‘We are pleased to have been able to secure all the assets including the trade names, know-how and stock from the administrator.
‘Over the coming weeks we will be working with suppliers, customers, dealers and Westfield and Chesil owners’ groups to understand the best way to revitalise the famous brands.
‘We will be recruiting experienced and loyal Westfield employees to make sure we have the earliest possible return to production, sales and customer support.’
It is also going to carry on exploring developing the iconic sports cars.
