TVR London Rally - Update number one
Discussion
Hi all,
Absolutely fantastic response so quickly, over 50 cars signed up already, well done so far
only another 200 needed
I thought it is time to provide the first update on where we are with the organising, and to call for some aditional help in some key areas.
We are in communication with Tony Hodson, the union convener at the factory, who would like to convey another message of thanks from the workers, and confirms that they are excited at the prospect of the Rally, and are looking forward to coming down to join us.
Tony is in the process of collating numbers of workers and families planning to come down, and also has contacts in the transport business who may be able to offer competitive quotes for the hiring of coaches...
...although KirstM has already done a stirling job of independantly investigating the costs of hiring coaches to ferry the workers to and from London, and has extracted some extremely reasonable quotes. She is also working hard at keeping the attendee list tidy - many thanks Kirsty
We have submitted our plans for the meet and parade through London to the Metropolitan Police, and that is now with the Public Order Branch. We expect to have approval of the meet point and parade route before the end of the week, and this will be posted on the main "sticky" as soon as we have it. (thanks for your help Lambo Cop)
V8cerbera has kindly offered to obtain quotes for some special, branded polo shirts, and once we have agreed an appropriate logo, will manage the production of same.
pupp has suggested having some vinyls manufactured for the day, not sure if he is offering to manage the sourcing of these, but we do need to agree a slogan for the event. discussion on this continues on the threads, but should be put to bed by the end of the week to ensure they are available on time. It is probably appropriate to maintain the same theme and logo acrcoss shirts, vinyls,poster, banners etc.
We have written to the Labour MP covering the constituency in which the factory is located, looking for support.
We have approached the TVR CC for guidance, and hope to hear back from them before the end of the week.
We have registered our attempt at two records with Guinness World Records, the largest number of TVR cars in a parade, and the largest number of single marque cars in a parade(currently mazda with 249)
We have written to Top Gear looking for their media support.
We will write to more of the media (TV, Radio, Newspapers and car magazines) next week
There are probably other people beavering away in the background helping out that i haven't mentioned yet, but will get mentioned in the next update report.
What we still need to do, and i ask for your help in this please:
Do we wish to deliver a petition to number 10 Downing Street? If so, what should it say, and how can we execute it in the time allowed (i am looking into on-line petition sites at the moment) - this is likely to be one of the best actions for media attention.
Should we arrange to meet up afterwards to buy the workers a beer? If so, can you suggest anywhere north London / enroute to the M1, that could cope with 250 to 300 punters?
This Rally belongs to the workers and to each of you. If you have ideas or suggestions that can help make it work better, please do not be shy.
speak up, and let us hear your idea
kind regards
David
Absolutely fantastic response so quickly, over 50 cars signed up already, well done so far
only another 200 needed I thought it is time to provide the first update on where we are with the organising, and to call for some aditional help in some key areas.
We are in communication with Tony Hodson, the union convener at the factory, who would like to convey another message of thanks from the workers, and confirms that they are excited at the prospect of the Rally, and are looking forward to coming down to join us.
Tony is in the process of collating numbers of workers and families planning to come down, and also has contacts in the transport business who may be able to offer competitive quotes for the hiring of coaches...
...although KirstM has already done a stirling job of independantly investigating the costs of hiring coaches to ferry the workers to and from London, and has extracted some extremely reasonable quotes. She is also working hard at keeping the attendee list tidy - many thanks Kirsty
We have submitted our plans for the meet and parade through London to the Metropolitan Police, and that is now with the Public Order Branch. We expect to have approval of the meet point and parade route before the end of the week, and this will be posted on the main "sticky" as soon as we have it. (thanks for your help Lambo Cop)
V8cerbera has kindly offered to obtain quotes for some special, branded polo shirts, and once we have agreed an appropriate logo, will manage the production of same.
pupp has suggested having some vinyls manufactured for the day, not sure if he is offering to manage the sourcing of these, but we do need to agree a slogan for the event. discussion on this continues on the threads, but should be put to bed by the end of the week to ensure they are available on time. It is probably appropriate to maintain the same theme and logo acrcoss shirts, vinyls,poster, banners etc.
We have written to the Labour MP covering the constituency in which the factory is located, looking for support.
We have approached the TVR CC for guidance, and hope to hear back from them before the end of the week.
We have registered our attempt at two records with Guinness World Records, the largest number of TVR cars in a parade, and the largest number of single marque cars in a parade(currently mazda with 249)
We have written to Top Gear looking for their media support.
We will write to more of the media (TV, Radio, Newspapers and car magazines) next week
There are probably other people beavering away in the background helping out that i haven't mentioned yet, but will get mentioned in the next update report.
What we still need to do, and i ask for your help in this please:
Do we wish to deliver a petition to number 10 Downing Street? If so, what should it say, and how can we execute it in the time allowed (i am looking into on-line petition sites at the moment) - this is likely to be one of the best actions for media attention.
Should we arrange to meet up afterwards to buy the workers a beer? If so, can you suggest anywhere north London / enroute to the M1, that could cope with 250 to 300 punters?
This Rally belongs to the workers and to each of you. If you have ideas or suggestions that can help make it work better, please do not be shy.
speak up, and let us hear your idea kind regards
David
Edited by e2djh on Tuesday 7th November 13:52
One suggestion BUT it does need wording correctly and probably adding to -
Keep TVR in Britain
TVR have announced it is to move all production of its luxury sports cars to Europe, resulting in the closure of its factory in Blackpool. This is a great loss to our British Automotive History.
TVR was founded in Britain in 1947. It is the third largest specialist hand-built car manufacturer in the world.
260 highly skilled workers have been told they will lose their jobs.
Support us to “Keep TVR in Britain”
Please sign our petition before 25th November 2006.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 7th November 14:55
Probably a stupid thought but.... That court yard at the front of Buckingham Palace looks as though it could accomodate 300 TVRs. How good would that photograph look. 300 British cars in front of Buckingham Palace, now that would send out the right message.
Anybody got any contacts there?
Anybody got any contacts there?
ntel said:
Probably a stupid thought but.... That court yard at the front of Buckingham Palace looks as though it could accomodate 300 TVRs. How good would that photograph look. 300 British cars in front of Buckingham Palace, now that would send out the right message.
Anybody got any contacts there?
Anybody got any contacts there?
great idea 
ntel said:
Probably a stupid thought but.... That court yard at the front of Buckingham Palace looks as though it could accomodate 300 TVRs. How good would that photograph look. 300 British cars in front of Buckingham Palace, now that would send out the right message.
Anybody got any contacts there?
Anybody got any contacts there?
Great idea Dave, i'll see what i can do!
(there's nothing like setting our sights high
) Just been informed that its in the Blackpool Gazette tonight. Will tell you more when i have a copy (runs out door ta shop)
edited to add after thought - Do you think Alfie (ex TVR) opera singer would be interested in supporting the rally? www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=324138&f=13&h=0
edited to add after thought - Do you think Alfie (ex TVR) opera singer would be interested in supporting the rally? www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=324138&f=13&h=0
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 7th November 18:33
If you can't get in front of Buckingham Palace, have you thought of Trafalgar Square, they actually cater for 'Demonstrations', see link: www.london.gov.uk/trafalgarsquare/manage/booking-forms.jsp#rallies
I wish i could join you guys, but i'm overseas until the 8th of December, i'll be keeping my eyes and ears peeled for the video footage and the pics, make you sure you take loads!!!
Good job.
I wish i could join you guys, but i'm overseas until the 8th of December, i'll be keeping my eyes and ears peeled for the video footage and the pics, make you sure you take loads!!!
Good job.
If it helps I may know of a venue that could cater for everyone and their cars after the rally. Its a licensed establishment very close to the M25, north London. No names as I havn't approached the management yet.I'll make some enqs if thats OK and get back to you as soon as I know one way or another.
e2djh said:
Do we wish to deliver a petition to number 10 Downing Street? If so, what should it say, and how can we execute it in the time allowed (i am looking into on-line petition sites at the moment) - this is likely to be one of the best actions for media attention.
Should we arrange to meet up afterwards to buy the workers a beer? If so, can you suggest anywhere north London / enroute to the M1, that could cope with 250 to 300 punters?
Should we arrange to meet up afterwards to buy the workers a beer? If so, can you suggest anywhere north London / enroute to the M1, that could cope with 250 to 300 punters?
Dash it... typing this again after a crash (computer not car!).
To my mind, this will be a huge CELEBRATION of TVR as a marque and of the workers.
The thing with a petition is what can we say to the Government? After all, TVR is a private enterprise, with an owner who cannot and should not be compelled by Government to do something he doesn't want to do. Nor should tax-payers' money be sunk into such a company. It is true that the Government's oppressive tax regime, all the health & safety compliance costs, etc. are partly responsible for the failure of UK manufacturing on the whole, but how do we express that in a TVR related petition? "We call upon the Government, in recognition of TVR as a symbol of the greatness of British manufacturing, to improve its attitude to British industry and look into ways to reduce the tax and compliance burden on maunfacturing and broader UK enterprise."
The problem there is that it won't fix the TVR situation. Realistically, the things that can are NS changing his mind, a buyer coming in to make him a good offer for the business, or an investor taking on the factory site and offering the workers jobs with a new company.
So should we:
(i) invite NS or a representative to accept a petition from us to keep (more of) TVR in the UK?Probably unrealistic;
(ii) make the centrepiece a televised (or widely reported) appeal to potential investors, rather than a petition, e.g. a pledge to continue buying TVRs IF they are made in Britain.
If none of the above, perhaps we focus on the celebration aspect and allow people to draw their own conclusions.
As for beers afterwards, I'm going to try really hard to think of somewhere more central because something en route to the M1 would be likely to lose a lot of people, I think. I trust the Ace Cafe and nearby parking are rather too small...
cheeky said:
Dash it... typing this again after a crash (computer not car!).
To my mind, this will be a huge CELEBRATION of TVR as a marque and of the workers.
The thing with a petition is what can we say to the Government? After all, TVR is a private enterprise, with an owner who cannot and should not be compelled by Government to do something he doesn't want to do. Nor should tax-payers' money be sunk into such a company. It is true that the Government's oppressive tax regime, all the health & safety compliance costs, etc. are partly responsible for the failure of UK manufacturing on the whole, but how do we express that in a TVR related petition? "We call upon the Government, in recognition of TVR as a symbol of the greatness of British manufacturing, to improve its attitude to British industry and look into ways to reduce the tax and compliance burden on maunfacturing and broader UK enterprise."
The problem there is that it won't fix the TVR situation. Realistically, the things that can are NS changing his mind, a buyer coming in to make him a good offer for the business, or an investor taking on the factory site and offering the workers jobs with a new company.
So should we:
(i) invite NS or a representative to accept a petition from us to keep (more of) TVR in the UK?Probably unrealistic;
(ii) make the centrepiece a televised (or widely reported) appeal to potential investors, rather than a petition, e.g. a pledge to continue buying TVRs IF they are made in Britain.
If none of the above, perhaps we focus on the celebration aspect and allow people to draw their own conclusions.
As for beers afterwards, I'm going to try really hard to think of somewhere more central because something en route to the M1 would be likely to lose a lot of people, I think. I trust the Ace Cafe and nearby parking are rather too small...
Thanks for this Matthew, some great logic here, and lots of common sense.
As you will have seen from my post, i was struggling to come up with a suggested theme, or content for the petition., rather hoping that someone else would.
You are correct, as a private company, the government can't intervene. However if a potential investor/buyer of TVR (and as far as we are currently aware it is not up for sale) were to see us presenting a petition to "Keep TVR in Britain", and understood the passiion that the owners have for the company, perhaps this could help to positively influence a decison. I know, its a bit weak, but lets give it a bit more thought. We really do need a "centrepiece" for the day, and stopping off in Whitehall to present something would offer us that.
Either way, i'm pretty sure that it will be a full-on celebration, and that is why we need to find teh watering hole most convenient for most people. I suggested North London just for the convenience of the factory workers, and those coming from the North. Nowhere will be prfect, but i suspect that it will be down to finding a suitably suzed venue, rather than specific location.
Come on everybody, ideas for a venue required please
Edited by e2djh on Tuesday 7th November 20:25
how about "DRIVING TO KEEP TVR BRITISH" as the campaign slogan?
I think the most effective thing would be a petition to NS as suggested above that we the undersigned will continue to buy TVRs as long as they are built in britain. I don't thing the government will be interested even if Jamie Oliver managed to get to them, mainly because Britain has actually attracted a lot of car manufacturing from overseas companies from the likes of toyota, nissan, honda and peugeot (as our labour costs are relatively low).
The petition to NS would at least let him see the size and strength of the market that has kept TVR in business since the 40's. If I was him I would have to have a good hard think about moving abroad.
I think the most effective thing would be a petition to NS as suggested above that we the undersigned will continue to buy TVRs as long as they are built in britain. I don't thing the government will be interested even if Jamie Oliver managed to get to them, mainly because Britain has actually attracted a lot of car manufacturing from overseas companies from the likes of toyota, nissan, honda and peugeot (as our labour costs are relatively low).
The petition to NS would at least let him see the size and strength of the market that has kept TVR in business since the 40's. If I was him I would have to have a good hard think about moving abroad.
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