Engineering news
Cash aid and alternative sites remain on the table to prevent Goodyear Dunlop shifting tyre manufacturing overseas from Birmingham, the Government said today.
Business Minister Matthew Hancock insisted officials are working "extremely hard" to keep the firm in Britain, with the company also accused in Parliament of intimidating workers and acting with "cavalier contempt towards a loyal and long-standing workforce".
Goodyear Dunlop has a moral and legal responsibility to examine the suggested alternative sites and should not "betray Birmingham and Britain", Labour MP Jack Dromey claimed.
Shadow transport minister Richard Burden also expressed concerns for the future of the grassroots motorsport racing scene in the UK, noting often that championships rely on Dunlop tyres.
Dunlop Motorsport Europe announced earlier this month it could not remain at its current site in Erdington, Birmingham, where tyres have been manufactured for decades, after its lease ends later this year.
Production is due to be shifted to existing plants in France and Germany, putting 241 jobs at risk.
The decision came four days after a meeting arranged by Business Secretary Vince Cable was called to discuss the issue.
Dromey said there were three proposals to relocate Goodyear Dunlop in Birmingham plus the package to assist with the move.
He said: "We thought at last, they're going to do the decent thing and look at alternatives. Then after that meeting on January 30, but four days later, on February 3, Goodyear Dunlop announced their intention to cease manufacturing in Birmingham.
"Now, in my 40 years in the world of work I cannot remember any employer acting with such cavalier contempt towards a loyal and long-standing workforce.
"This is a decision made 3,600 miles away in Ohio when they could have moved but three miles and remained in Birmingham."