Closure deadline fear for Dunlop Motorsport
The jobs of around 270 workers at Goodyear Dunlop in Birmingham are in the balance after the company was given a new deadline of September 1 to move out of its Erdington site.
Landowners Canmoor Developments sold the 11 acre site to Jaguar Land Rover last year, so the carmaker can expand its neighbouring Castle Bromwich Jaguar manufacturing factory. But it means the Dunlop Motorsport tyre factory will have to move out.
Dunlop Motorsport spokesman James Bailey said the company had been told yesterday that a deadline of May 31 had now been extended to September.
Around 270 people work on the site, 180 of them involved in manufacturing motorsport tyres. Union leaders fear Goodyear will decide to close the operation and move the work to Dunlop Motorsport sites in France and Germany.
But Mr Bailey stressed today that no decision had yet been taken on the future of the operations on the Erdington site, but it did now now the time scale it was working to.
"It doesn't answer our employees concerns about the long term," he admitted. "Management will now be able to make a decision regarding the next step. Until now management has not been able to make that decision.
"We are all aware now of the urgency, sensitivity and concerns of the employees and a decision will be made as soon as possible."
Erdington MP Jack Dromey, who has been involved in discussion over the relocation of the 125 year old Dunlop plant since early last year, warned that a decision was needed 'within weeks' or the operation would be lost.
These talks between Dunlop, Jaguar LandRover, Mr Dromey and Birmingham City Council had led to a number of proposals being put forward which would secure the future of Dunlop Motorsport in Birmingham but so far the company had not committed to any one proposal, said the MP.
The proposals inlcude a new site which had been identified by Birmingham City Council and Dunlop less than three miles away in Aston.
Mr Dromey said today: "The Dunlop factory is truly remarkable; in the world of motorsport, as a large local employer and as an iconic part of Birmingham and Britain's industrial life. That is why it is of real concern that after over a year of discussions, the future of Dunlop in Birmingham remains uncertain. Birmingham City Council has with Dunlop identified an alternative site in Aston that is less than three miles from the current plant, but Dunlop at global level continues to delay making a decision.
"Clarity for the workforce and Birmingham more widely is essential and I will be seeking an urgent meeting with the chief executive officer of Goodyear Dunlop.
"Dunlop must commit to Birmingham within weeks or 125 years of history will be lost."
