Torotrak, a developer and supplier of emissions reduction and fuel efficiency technology in vehicles is cutting its workforce from 76 to 33 after deciding to close its site in Leyland, Lancashire . The company says that commercial progress of its “proven” technology has “not been forthcoming”.

In its preliminary final results to (31 March), chairman Nick Barter said that the focus of the listed company, which
specialises in the use of ground-breaking KERS technology for buses and V-Charge to boost the power of smaller engines for cars, was on realising value from its technology portfolio and other assets — either through licence deals or sales of assets and its intellectual property portfolio.

Although there has been growing interest in its Flybrid product for the bus sector, acquiring customers has been difficult due to “the severe resource constraints the sector has faced over the last four to five years”.

Mr Barter said: “The decisions taken by our Tier One and OEM partners not to take V-Charge forwards into production — coupled with the lack of progress from our IVT/CVT licensees — led us to the inevitable but painful decision that we must cease all further investment in the traditional Torotrak variable-transmission-related technologies.

“As a result, we started a consultation process in January to close the Leyland site, which was the home of this technology. This process is substantially completed, with the site to be vacated by the end of 2017.”