VOL. 54 ISSUE 36 SEPTEMBER 12, 2017 P95
in the Southeast Asian country. This inevitably led
to concern amongst his then 450-strong British
manufacturing workforce that their jobs risked
being shipped overseas, but that's far from how
things have turned out.
"One of the strong messages that John Bloor
gave out when we first announced that we were
going to be bringing some manufacturing out of
the UK to Thailand, was about jobs," says Steve
Sargent, Triumph's Chief Product Officer who's
responsible for overseeing the company's produc-
tion process in the UK, and together with Triumph
Motorcycles Thailand MD Peter Coates, in its
three factories in Thailand. "In 2002 when we
(Above) Far-
sighted John Bloor
brought Triumph
to Thailand
before any
other non-Asian
manufacturer,
since joined by
Ducati and now
Harley-Davidson.
(Left) Anyone
who thinks quality
control will be
sacrificed just
because these
bikes are being
built in Thailand is
sadly mistaken.