Goodyear appoints new UK boss
Goodyear has appointed a new head for its UK business and he will take over the job of managing the proposed closure of the company's factory in Wolverhampton.
Hans Vrijsen is the new general manager for Goodyear Dunlop UK and Ireland, taking over from Erich Fric, who had been in the job for just over three years.
Mr Vrijsen joins the firm when it is the midst of consultations with workers and unions over the proposed closure of the Bushbury tyre factory by 2017, with the loss of all 330 jobs. This week it was revealed that experts have been called in to assess Goodyear's business case for the closure.
Union bosses say they are 'optimistic' the assessment will show the plant is 'productive and profitable' and would be enough to prove the case for keeping the 88-year old factory open. A Goodyear spokeswoman said the change at the top was part of the normal rotation of senior managers and executives across its business.
Mr Fric is moving on to the job of consumer product business unit sales and marketing director for Goodyear across Western Europe.
The company said Mr Vrijsen would work closely with Mr Fric 'to ensure a smooth transition of leadership responsibilities for Goodyear's UK and Ireland businesses'.
Goodyear says the new man in charge of the UK business 'brings a wealth of experience to this role, having built a strong career in various positions, especially in the area of sales and marketing'.
Based at the company's TyreFort headquarters in Birmingham, Mr Vrijsen's prime role will be to lead the business to 'build sales and marketing capability and to drive growth in the UK and Ireland'.
He joined Goodyear in 2005 as marketing director Iberia, covering Spain and Portugal. Since then has held a number of senior sales and marketing roles in Spain, Germany and Belgium, including managing director for original equipment EMEA – covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In 2013 he was promoted to the position of marketing director consumer EMEA. Prior to joining Goodyear, Mr Vrijsen established his career with various sales and marketing roles in the fast moving consumer goods industry working at Unilever, Wella and Coty. He has a BSc in business and managerial economics from HBO University in the Netherlands.
