World-famous pram manufacturer Silver Cross has been saved by a group of investors who bought the firm last night in what is believed to be a multi-million pound deal.

The acquisition secures the jobs of 30 workers at the Guiseley firm and gives hope to the 70 staff who were made redundant last month when the company went into administrative receivership with debts of more than £4 million.

The acquisition has been privately funded by the group - many of whom are friends - who come from a number of business backgrounds.

The new directors were attracted to Silver Cross by its reputation for engineering quality and its world-wide fame.

The group's spokesman Graham Hazell, one of the new directors, said today: "Silver Cross is unique in its reputation for quality and for the regard in which it is held world-wide."

Mr Hazell is involved with a number of firms and has an engineering factory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

He added: "We will be securing its reputation, firstly by re-launching the Heritage range, which is the essence of what Silver Cross stands for.

"The company has declined in recent years with heavy losses. But we will be re-investing in the craft skills which have been run down over the past few years."

He said the firm would be using the skills of inventor Bill Steadman who has brought a long line of inventions to market to develop a new range of innovative products.

The new management says it is moving fast to improve confidence among Silver Cross retailers and the hundreds of customers who have been ringing the factory to make sure their orders could be met.

Addingham businessman Michael Whitaker, who was believed to have been a front-runner for the business, is understood not to be among the new investors.

A spokesman for the company said no local people were involved in the acquisition.

Former managing director Harry Moore is understood to no longer have a connection with the firm.

Silver Cross has been a major employer in Guiseley for the past 70 years and was founded 122 years ago by Lawrence Wilson in Leeds.

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