Goodyear on track with UK plant closure

Wolverhampton, UK - Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Ltd has confirmed to ERJ that the planned closure of its mixing and retreading facility in Wolverhampton will be completed by the yearend, on schedule.

"The plant closure date of 31 Dec remains unchanged,” said Goodyear spokeswoman Nik Ellis.

The company announced the plan to close the factory in October 2015, affecting 330 workers at the site.

“We fully understand the impact of this decision on our affected associates and we thank them for their continued professionalism during this difficult time,” Ellis told ERJ.

Goodyear, she added, has now moved most of the retread production to Wittlich, Germany and Riom, France.

“This will help to improve the cost competitiveness of the retread volume within our European truck business,” she added.

The mixing activities will be transferred to other existing production plants across EMEA, said Ellis without giving further details.