Call Sign July 2003 - Page 7 - MARSHAL RUSS AND WIFE GILL WALK THE WALK

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who sponsored us in our 'Walk the Walk' marathon for Breast Cancer. This was Gill's second 'Moonwalk' and I decided to join her this time round to give support. We trained every Sunday for three months when we went out walking around the highways and byways of Kent, but somehow always managed to end up in a pub! We assembled on the evening of May 10 at 8.30pm in Battersea Park with 14,000 women wearing bras and 1,000 men wearing - well anything - finally setting off just after midnight on the Sunday morning. Gill's brother Stevie and cousins Jane and Paul - also cab drivers - were there for extra support.	MARSHAL RUSS AND WIFE GILL WALK THE WALK
	Through the early hours, we snaked down towards Tower Bridge and then along Victoria Embankment where the first pain started to set in. We reachedKensington High St at around 5am and by this Once again, Gill and I would like to thank everyone who sponsored us, especially Call Sign for the Ł100 cheque. We have raised well over Ł650, which will go towards the continuous battle to beat breast Cancer. Let's hope that the money raised in the Playtex Moonwalk 'Walk the Walk" will help to find a cure not just for women, but men too Russell Hall (G44) and Gill Hall (G44J) time I was looking for a DaC driver to give me a lift as my feet felt like they had been through a bacon slicer! "Come On," Gill yelled, "only another 7 miles!" On and on we went, totally	exhausted. After 9 hours and 25 minutes, Gill and I crossed the finishing line together after walking 26.2 miles.

JAMIE CHANGES HIS MIND! Could RTL Be Next?
The former Chairman of Manganese Bronze Holdings, Jamie Borwick, blamed "non-cooperation" by his former directors for the decision to drop plans for buying MBH. Jamie stood down as Chairman last January, after revealing that he had made a Ł15 million bid for the company that is the parent company of LTI. He also blamed his withdrawal on a "breakdown of relations" with his former Board members. Mr Borwick said: "Given the Board's lack of co-operation, I am not prepared to proceed with an offer." He also noted that MBH were at that time trading with a reported pre-tax loss of Ł1.6 million for the six months up to the end of January, compared with a Ł2 million loss in the previous year. Manganese Bronze directors rejected Jamie Borwick's 80p-per-share offer as being too low, after which Mr Borwick and his "associated interests" - together making the largest	shareholding in the company - challenged the Board to "deliver more." Mr Borwick went on to add: "As the directors clearly believe that they can deliver better shareholder value than 80p cash, we look forward to them doing so promptly." In return, the MBH Board hit back by stating that they were "...determined to implement their stated strategy of increasing the proportion of revenues derived from services, diversifying the customer base, eliminating the losses in its Components Division and pursuing controlled international expansion to deliver significant value for all shareholders." As Call Sign went to press, the	situation was unchanged so far as we know, which leaves Manganese Bronze as it was with Jamie Borwick no longer the Chairman. However, one interesting point is that Radio Taxis (London) are reported as having a mystery part-purchaser prepared to take a minority shareholding in RTL. We now know that Jamie Borwick is looking to buy but we also note that CabCharge boss Reg Kermode has made a takeover offer for Melbourne taxi group Black Cabs. That company says that it will urge all its shareholders to accept the A$23.2 million offer. Black Cabs deputy chairman Peter Latimer told Call Sign that the CabCharge offer would let shareholders realise about 57 per cent of their holdings in cash, while the scrip part of the bid would allow them to participate in a larger and more diversified company. So is RTL's "mystery bidder" Jamie Borwick, Reg Kermode or is there a real surprise in the pipeline?

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