Tanfield Group PLC
18 May 2007

The Tanfield Group Plc

18 May 2007


Appointment of Non-Executive Director

The Tanfield Group Plc ("Tanfield") is pleased to announce that it has appointed
Colin Thomas Billiet as an independent Non-Executive Director. Mr Billiet is
currently the chief executive of Nano-Porous Solutions Limited. He has a
technical background and has held a number of relevant directorships in the
past.

Darren Kell, Chief Executive said:

"We are delighted to welcome Colin to our board. He has a terrific track record
managing sustained growth in a global manufacturing company. His additional
experiences and expertise will be a strong complement to the skills which we
already have on the Tanfield board, and we look forward to his input into the
next stage of development for the business."


Colin Billiet

Colin, 59, is currently CEO of Nano-Porous Solutions Limited. He has a technical
background and many patents and technical papers to his name.  He spent 34 years
at Domnick Hunter Group plc, latterly as Group Chief Executive (1997-2006) and
is also currently a non-executive director of Lontra Limited. He has experience
of identifying customer needs, developing solutions and taking them to market
through various channels which include: brand label, OEM, distribution and
direct to end users. Colin was also a director of the British Compressed Air
Society (1986-2006) and a former President.

There are no other disclosures required in relation to Colin Billiet under
Schedule

2 paragraph (g) of the AIM rules.


For further information:

Fishburn Hedges                                   Tel: +44(0) 20 7839 4321

Morgan Bone                                       Mob: +44(0) 7767 622 967

James Benjamin                                    Mob: +44(0) 7747 113 930

                                                  tanfield@fishburn-hedges.co.uk

                       website: www.tanfieldgroup.co.uk


Notes to editors
The Tanfield Group Plc is the world's leading developer and manufacturer of
road-going commercial electric vehicles and aerial work platforms. Tanfield is
headquartered in Newcastle with operations in the USA and Japan. It has two main
divisions:

Smith Electric Vehicles, was founded in 1920 and acquired by Tanfield in October
2004. Since its acquisition, Smith is developing into a world leader in new
technology electric vans and trucks with greatly enhanced performance, speed and
range capabilities. This makes them attractive for all fleet operators in large
towns, cities and closed industrial environment. For the first time, these fleet
operators have an economically viable, zero emission alternatives to using
diesel vans and trucks. Smith has an unrivalled UK-wide service and support
network, which already maintains over 5,000 vehicles for major fleet operators.
This core element of the business is beginning to fulfil its potential in terms
of addressing the requirements of large urban fleet operators, who want to
reduce their operational costs and more importantly, greatly reduce their carbon
footprint. Smith's airport offering is complemented by two specialist airport
vehicle sub-divisions; Jumbotugs and Norquip.

www.smithelectricvehicles.com


UpRight Powered Access, is firmly established as the UK's biggest manufacturer
of self-propelled aerial work platforms (such as "cherry-pickers", "scissor
lifts", "trailer mounts", etc) and UpRight is globally one of the industry's
strongest aerial lift brands in what is a $7bn market. UpRight has assembly
facilities in the UK and USA, plus a wholly-owned subsidiary in Japan. Products
are sold through a strong global network of over 150 independent, full-service
distributors across Europe, North America, Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions.
Tanfield has been successful in extending the UpRight product range and
achieving significant increases in average weekly order intake, boosted in part
by working at height regulations.

www.upright.com

www.aerialaccess.co.uk




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