Michelin to discuss Dundee plant options with Scottish minister

London – Michelin group executives are meeting Derek Mackay, Scotland’s cabinet secretary for finance, economy and fair work, this week to discuss the future of the tire maker’s Dundee plant, ERJ understands.

The meeting will cover proposals from the Michelin Dundee action group, formed after the French group announced 5 Nov that the 845-employee facility would close by mid-2020.

The action group – comprising government officials, trade unions and business leaders – then expects to hear Michelin’s reaction to its various rescue plans at a scheduled meeting with the minister on 30 Nov.

Some of the proposals involve retaining tire-manufacture at the site, others include alternative options, Bob MacGregor, regional officer of the Unite trade union, told ERJ in a 26 Nov telephone interview.

MacGregor declined to give details but said the action group “is focused on keeping a Michelin presence and high-quality jobs in Dundee.”

Scottish minister Mackay has stated that he would be meeting members of Michelin’s group executive with authority to review the situation, and that his top priority was for commercial production to continue at the site.

“We will calibrate all our efforts around industrial strategy, innovation, engineering, national manufacturing institutes… to give Dundee a fighting chance to save the plant,” he said.

“It is important that we showcase the positives of Dundee because that will keep Michelin interested in a future at the plant, the minister added at a 6 Nov parliamentary meeting in Edinburgh.