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What is the company's vision for growth?

The battle for strategic control of the company, that occurred in 2003 is a good case study on the need for what the textbooks call the 'divorce of ownership from control'. The fight was between two factions within the firm: the old and the new. Former chief executive, Jamie Borwick, moved to a non-executive chairman's role in 2001. Ian Pickering was appointed in his place. Borwick, who made his money through inheriting his father-in-law's wealth, wanted the firm to sell more taxis to customers in the UK, whereas Pickering thought it would be better to target overseas sales.

The conflict within the firm came to a head because Borwick thought he had a greater say in the business as a result of his wife's family's shareholding in the company. But it is the right of the board of a company to decide who has executive control of the business. So when Borwick failed in a takeover bid for the firm, (an attempt to exercise more control over the company's strategic direction), he was effectively forced to sell his family's shares and concede defeat.

Image: Chief Executive of Manganese Bronze Holdings, Ian Pickering. Image reproduced by kind permission of Manganese Bronze Holdings.

With the battle over, the firm has begun to implement its strategy for growth in new markets. London Taxis of North America has begun to make sales, having satisfied the environmental and safety standards in the US. An agreement was reached to license the assembly and sale of LTI vehicles in Mexico and some parts of Latin America. In addition, a Letter of Intent was signed with a company and regional government in China, as the first step on the road to manufacturing taxis in that country.

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