Pre-Close Trading Update

Tanfield Group PLC
18 December 2007


18 December 2007

                             THE TANFIELD GROUP PLC

                          ('TANFIELD' OR THE 'GROUP')

                            Pre-Close Trading Update

The Tanfield Group Plc, the leading manufacturer of zero emission electric
vehicles and aerial work platforms, will shortly be entering its close period
for the financial year ending 31 December 2007.


Smith Electric Vehicles

The Board of Directors is delighted to announce today an order for 100 vehicles.
The vehicles, a mixture of the Newton truck and Edison van models, are destined
for fleet operators across the public and private sectors in Ireland and
Northern Ireland.


This is the largest new customer order to date and was not preceded by the
purchase of trial vehicles. The Board believes that this initial fleet order,
secured without the need for an assessment period, demonstrates the growing
market acceptance of Tanfield's zero emission technology.


The Company has increased production capacity in line with management's target
of producing up to 30 vehicles a week by early 2008. Order intake also remains
strong for the purchase of single seed vehicles or small fleets for assessment.
Fleet operators who have recently ordered seed vehicles include:


   •Amey Construction
   •Carlsberg
   •Cadogen Tate
   •Alstec
   •A-Plant


The Board believes that this spread of clients demonstrates the widening appeal
of Smith Electric Vehicles. Non-disclosure agreements remain in place with other
new customers.


In December, Tanfield launched a 12,000kg version of the Smith Newton truck in
the USA, at EVS23 (the Electric Vehicle Symposium) in Anaheim, California. The
vehicle was well-received and Tanfield is in discussions to supply Newton to a
significant number of major fleet operators in North America.


This 12,000kg model is the largest electric vehicle Tanfield has produced to
date, and is designed specifically for the US market. It will be powered by a
lithium-ion phosphate battery pack and has a range of up to 150 miles. The
Company is on track to commence manufacture of the USA Newton for the North
America market early next year.


Powered Access

The second half has seen production and sales progress in line with management
expectations. End user demand remains strong across all territories and product
areas.


The integration of Snorkel remains on track and cross-selling with UpRight in
the second half of 2007 has provided further validation of the Snorkel
acquisition. Tanfield has achieved continued strong sales in the USA and
commenced manufacture of key UpRight products in Snorkel USA facilities for the
Americas and other strategic markets, including small to medium sized electric
personnel lifts and boom lifts.


For UpRight, the Company also commenced manufacture of key Snorkel products at
its Vigo Centre headquarters in the UK, including larger, rough terrain scissor
lifts.


Tanfield has further strengthened its global distributor network and there is a
strong appetite for both the enhanced UpRight and Snorkel product lines.

Outlook

The outlook for both key divisions remains very healthy, and trading through the
second half has been in line with management expectations. Consequently, the
Board looks to the future with increased confidence and remains well-placed to
report further progress for the Group in 2008.


                            www.tanfieldgroup.co.uk

For further information:

The Tanfield Group Plc            Tel: [phone]
Darren Kell, Chief Executive
Charles Brooks, Finance Director

Fishburn Hedges                   Tel: [phone]
Morgan Bone/James Benjamin        Mob: [phone]
                                  [e-mail]

Cenkos Securities plc             Tel: [phone]
Stephen Keys

St. Helen's Capital plc           Tel: [phone]
Seb Wykeham
Ruari McGirr



Notes to editors

The Tanfield Group Plc is the world's leading developer and manufacturer of
road-going commercial electric vehicles and aerial work platforms. Tanfield is
headquartered in Newcastle with operations in both the North America and EMEA
regions. It has two main divisions:


Smith Electric Vehicles, was founded in 1920 and acquired by Tanfield in October
2004. Following its acquisition, Smith is developing into a world leader in new
technology electric vans and trucks with greatly enhanced performance, speed and
range capabilities. This makes them attractive for all fleet operators in large
towns, cities and closed industrial environment. For the first time, these fleet
operators have economically viable, zero emission alternatives to using diesel
vans and trucks. Smith has an unrivalled UK-wide service and support network,
which already maintains over 5,000 vehicles for major fleet operators. This core
element of the business is beginning to fulfil its potential in terms of
addressing the requirements of large urban fleet operators, who want to reduce
their operational costs and more importantly, greatly reduce their carbon
footprint. Smith's airport offering is complemented by two specialist airport
vehicle sub-divisions; Jumbotugs and Norquip.

www.smithelectricvehicles.com


Powered Access, contains two of the world's most established aerial work
platform brands, UpRight Powered Access and Snorkel International. UpRight is
firmly established as the UK's biggest manufacturer of self-propelled aerial
work platforms (also known as 'cherry-pickers', 'mobile elevating work
platforms', 'aerial lifts', etc). UpRight has assembly facilities in the UK and
USA, with products sold through a strong network of over 180 independent,
full-service distributors across Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific
regions. Snorkel, acquired in July 2007, has significant manufacturing
capabilities along with strong sales and distribution, in the USA and
Australasia. Tanfield has been successful in extending its powered access
product range and is now one of only three 'full line' aerial lift manufacturers
to have a significant assembly footprint in both the North America and EMEA
regions, in what is a $7bn global market.

www.upright.com / www.snorkelusa.com



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