Goodyear: The end of an era

Paul Monkton's words at the gates of Goodyear struck a solemn chord among his colleagues, all of whom are now facing an uncertain future after years of loyal service.

"There's no future for us here, we know that much," said another member of staff, while another spoke of generation after generation of the same families dutifully clocking in at the Bushbury Lane plant.

It is significantly diminished but that is no less devastating given that these workers are to lose their jobs.

The factory was established in 1927 on the edge of the town. But the company's roots date back further.

Goodyear was founded by Frank A Seibeding in 1898 and developed steadily, building up its tyre-making reputation in the USA and Canada.

The very fact that Wolverhampton was selected as the manufacturing site was considered as a fantastic coup for the town.

Some towns are said to have offered Goodyear free water and 'almost' free electricity to tempt the tyre-making giants. But town dignitaries said that there was no way they could offer anything like that. Instead during negotiations, Alderman F A Willcock said that the town could offer power as cheap as anywhere in the United Kingdom.

Just 18 months after it opened, it had made its one millionth tyre in Wolverhampton.

The British edition of the Wingfoot Clan, the company's newsletter, said that this was regarded by senior officials as a 'milestone on the Goodyear Road of Progress'.

When the Second World War came, its workers did 20 days on duty at a time with just one day off.

Its aircraft tyres were five feet tall, two feet wide and weighed 355 pounds.

Goodyear would come out of the war and go on to great things, including a racing tyre division for Formula One.

But in 1986 the town was shocked by the news that 90 shopfloor jobs would go at Goodyear. This was on top of 40 already announced.

The Ohio-based company had fought off a £3.7 billion takeover bid. But it had required them to shell out to purchase 11.5 per cent worth of shares held by Sir James Goldsmith's group of investors. Next came the closure of a subsidiary company, Howdins, with a base in Sutton Coldfield. But the real turning point came in December 1997, as the factory shifted from five shifts to four. Around 550 people were axed.

In January 2002, the decline gathered pace when around 470 tyre workers were told their jobs could not be saved.

In 2000, with staff numbers at Goodyear in Wolverhampton down to 2,500, it decided to put its workforce on short time.

A glimmer of hope came in February 2003 when bosses told union members that Goodyear would stay in Wolverhampton for the 'foreseeable future'. And in August, loan company Promise Finance moved on to the Goodyear site raising the prospect of a jobs boost. The company, however, fell victim to the credit crunch. A deal was done to spend £150 million on safeguarding the now scaled down operation at Goodyear.

The idea was for hundreds of homes shops and a pub to be built on land Goodyear was no longer using. Demolition work started in 2007, while in June 2008 thousands gathered to witness the end of an era as the iconic blue and yellow Goodyear chimney was pulled down.

By 2012 Goodyear had joined forces with fellow Midlands tyre maker Dunlop and was investing £6 million in the site, now a mixing and retreading centre. It was even taking on apprentices.

Mr Monkton, aged 47, has spent his entire working life at Goodyear, having joined the firm 25 years ago.

"I'm really sad and disappointed," said the key operator. "I don't think any of us expected this. We were called to a meeting and they just told us the place was going to close.

"I've spent 25 years here. It's all I know. There are plenty who have been here for longer.

"It looks like it's all been decided. I'm going to have to start looking for another job. That's something I haven't had to think about for a long time. It's a real blow to all of us."

A total of 330 people will lose their jobs in Wolverhampton under the plans to close the plant. The first of the staff will leave in October before the entire operation comes to a close in 2017. Bosses say the plant is no longer financially viable.

Brett Davies, 32, from Dudley, has worked at the site for 10 years as a leading hand.

He said he was told he was being made redundant when he was called into a meeting with bosses yesterday morning.

"It's a major shock to everyone," he said. "None of us knew this was coming. A lot of us in remoulding moved across here from the Dudley site. Nothing's been mentioned about this before.

"It was just a normal working day as far as I was concerned. We're all a bit in the dark at the moment. There's supposed to be another meeting coming up and I suppose we'll know more then.

"There's no future for us here, we know that much. We've got to wait and see what happens next and try and find new jobs. A lot of staff have been here years and it will be really hard for them. It's a lot to take in at the moment."

Another worker, who did not want to be named, said he would be devastated to leave the site after more than 15 years.

"It's a total shock," he said. "People have enjoyed working here. You can see that by how many of them have worked at the place for so long. A lot of members of the same family work here too. You could tell something was up when we were called into the meeting, but before today there's been nothing to say this would happen.

"We don't know when we will be laid off. It's not a good feeling to lose your job."

Former Goodyear employee Chris White grew up on Gorsebrook Road and worked at the factory between 1969 and 1979. The 62-year-old who now lives in Burnham-on-Sea and works as an estimator for a bookbinding company, said: "I worked in the office services which delivered the post around the factory which was a huge site. Then I worked in the telex department. It was an old message system, they were made redundant by faxes. I left school and joined when I was 17, it was my first job out of school. "I still know quite a few people that have either worked at Goodyear or still work there, it's a bit sad really.

"It was a very good company to work for in the 60s and 70s. It was just a hub, an iconic part of Wolverhampton. It set me up for the rest of my life. I bet the staff will be distraught." Residents around the sprawling site said the iconic factory was part of the fabric of their everyday lives. John Curtis, aged 43, of Bushbury Lane said: "That's another major part of our manufacturing heritage gone and it's worrying that it's going to lead to so many redundancies and the potential of yet another derelict site in the city.

"We've got too many of those in Wolverhampton already. I know so many people who used to work there, people who owned our house before I moved in used to work there and they always said if you worked at Goodyear you had a job for life. I thought it had picked up, but obviously not. Goodyear has got to be one of the biggest manufacturing places still going in Wolverhampton. This is devastating news for everybody."

Colin Ryder, aged 76, owns the London Midland Railway Club Association on Bushbury Lane, feared for the workers based at the site.

"Goodyear is a place that you recognise when you hear the name Wolverhampton. I always expected it to be there for many more years."

Mark Bryan, 39, from Broom Road, Low Hill, said Goodyear was a true icon of the city. "It's been here for such a long time you get used to it," he said. "I grew up around the place, everyone knows Goodyear. I still walk past it everyday and look up and think 'there's Goodyear'. From our house you can hear the grinding sound of the machines working at night at the factory. In the last few years it has got less and less. I suppose they have scaled down a lot.

Andy Taylor, regional officer for Unite, said the news had come 'out of the blue' after the Bushbury Lane plant had taken 'great steps' to increase efficiency and production.

"It is a profitable site and it is disappointing," he said. "This will mark the end of tyre manufacture in the UK as far as Goodyear is concerned.

"It wasn't so long ago that 2,000 workers were employed here." It is understood that a long standing redundancy package is in place for all staff affected by the closure.

The first 50 jobs are set to go in October when the retread department closes. It is proposed that the entire site will shut down in January 2017.

"We have heard that the company will be honouring the existing redundancy package," added Mr Taylor. "A significant number of employees will have been there for a lot of years.

"It's very sad for Wolverhampton. The area needs sorting out and this won't help at all."

The news has also reverberated around businesses in the area. John Healy, sales rep for nearby ASC Nextday Metals, said the closure was symptomatic of the decline of the region's manufacturing industry. "The saddest thing for me is the people who are losing their jobs," he said. "There has been a massive decline in the manufacturing industry, particularly in the West Midlands. The decline of Goodyear has affected other businesses as well, including us. We used to supply materials for them, but as Goodyear reduced in size they became a small part of our business.

"There are positives with JLR coming in, but even then they are bringing in some staff from outside the area." Generations of Wolverhampton people have worked at the plant and the majority of the existing workers are aged over 55.

Goodyear was also synonymous with Wolverhampton Wanderers for more than a decade. The firm sponsored Wolves' shirts for 12 years – the longest continuous sponsorship deal in English football history.

She said: "What has struck me about this place is how loyal the workforce is. A lot of people agreed to work short hours during the recession to help keep things going."

And Pat McFadden, MP for Wolverhampton South East, said the closure would impact on families right across the city.

"The Goodyear name has been part of Wolverhampton for generations and a part of the city's manufacturing history," he said. "This will affect families right across the city.

Former owner Sir Jack Hayward oversaw Goodyear's tenure as the club's sponsor from 1990 to 2002. He even insisted that tyres on the team coach be Goodyear's. And he famously asked his great friend Baroness Rachael Heyhoe Flint to check if tyres on the Queen's car were Goodyear-made when Her Majesty opened the rebuilt Molineux in 1994. "Unfortunately, they were not Goodyear tyres," she said. "The name of Goodyear was dear to Sir Jack's heart." When Goodyear signed an initial three-year shirt contract with Wolves in 1990 it was worth £250,000.

However, two years later Goodyear were to earn the wrath of Wolves traditionalists after 'tyre marks' were splodged onto the 1992/93 shirt.

The 'trendy' design was detested by many, with 400 signing a petition for it to be scrapped. The end of the Wolves-Goodyear link was greeted with sadness at Molineux. Sir Jack said at the time: "Like Wolverhampton Wanderers, and myself, Goodyear have a genuine and long-standing affiliation with Wolverhampton."