Simon Skinner, a former director and Head of Design at Norton Motorcycles UK has been struck off from being a member of the directors’ register after it was formally recognised that owners’ bikes were indeed being stripped of parts for use on other motorcycles.
As part of the ongoing investigation into production irregularities at Norton under the steer of disgraced former CEO Stuart Garner, Skinner was removed from the director’s register for five years as a direct consequence of a scandal involving the switching of parts.
Though the practice - which saw Nortons in for a service having parts removed to be fitted onto new on order models to cover up shortages stemming from financial issues - has been widely confirmed by those that worked there, this is the first time it has been formally put into writing as fact.
As such, Skinner has been axed for allowing it to happen in his role as a director of the business.
Despite his association with Garner, Skinner had been kept on by Norton during its transition to new owners as Head of Design.
“Between 09 September 2019 and 12 November 2019 Simon Peter Skinner caused and/or allowed NMUL Realisations Limited to remove parts off of at least six customers’ fully paid for and owned motorcycles which had been returned under warranty ("warranty customers") with values totalling at least £123,000, for use on other customers’ motorcycles resulting in the motorcycles of the warranty customers remaining incomplete as at the date of Administration."
Norton slid into administration in February 2020 amid a brewing scandal involving Garner and a handful of pensions schemes that were being used to fund the business illegally. An investigation into Garner is ongoing.
Norton was eventually saved from collapse by Indian firm TVS Motors, which has bought the entire company and since set about overhauling the business to ensure it meets high quality production standards, while new models are in the pipeline it says,.
However, it has received a setback recently on the discovery that numerous V4 SS models sold during the period Garner was in charge had dozens of faults that made them unsafe and unroadworthy.
TVS and Norton had attempted to repair the affected models but the discovery of more faults mean this cannot happen now.
