For immediate release                                                                                                                   5 April 2012

Tanfield Group plc

("Tanfield" or the "Company")

Smith Electric Vehicles Corp. Filing of a Form S-1/A Registration Statement

with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

·    Smith Electric Vehicles Corp. ("Smith") filed Form S-1/A, its revised registration statement, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") with respect to a proposed Initial Public Offering on The NASDAQ Global Market

Introduction

Yesterday Smith filed an amendment to its Form S-1 registration statement for review by the SEC.  Copies of the registration statement may be inspected at www.sec.gov from 13.00hrs GMT (08.00am Eastern Time) today.

Information on Smith

Smith, a company headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, designs, produces, and sells zero emission commercial electric vehicles in the United States and Europe.   

The filing of the S-1/A is for an initial public offering ("IPO") of Smith's common stock on The NASDAQ Global Market, and is subject to the SEC's review.  The shares of common stock to be sold in the offering are proposed to be sold by Smith and by certain of its stockholders, including Tanfield.  Subject to market conditions, the IPO may include a partial sale by Tanfield of its current shareholding in Smith.

A copy of Smith's press announcement will be found at Smith's website, www.smithelectric.com.

Further information:

A registration statement relating to shares of Smith's common stock has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.