GKN factory in Birmingham set to close.
Discussion
GKN factory in Birmingham set to close putting 500 jobs at risk
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-5...
A car parts factory is set to close putting up to 519 jobs at risk.
Birmingham Erdington MP Jack Dromey said the announcement by GKN was "completely unexpected" and brought to an end more than 50 years of manufacturing at the Chester Road site.
Unite the union said it was seeking urgent meetings with GKN claiming the factory remains "extremely viable".
GKN said it had tried to reduce the site's operating costs but competition from abroad had made it unviable.
It said the proposed closure had been a "difficult decision" after a "significant effort" had been made over the past 10 years to invest in the GKN Driveline factory.
Labour's Mr Dromey described it as "a world-class producer for the automotive industry and one of the biggest suppliers into car plants across the West Midlands".
GKN WAS BOUGHT BY INVESTMENT FIRM MELROSE INDUSTRIES IN MARCH 2018.
The last sentence says it all really. Investment firm?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-5...
A car parts factory is set to close putting up to 519 jobs at risk.
Birmingham Erdington MP Jack Dromey said the announcement by GKN was "completely unexpected" and brought to an end more than 50 years of manufacturing at the Chester Road site.
Unite the union said it was seeking urgent meetings with GKN claiming the factory remains "extremely viable".
GKN said it had tried to reduce the site's operating costs but competition from abroad had made it unviable.
It said the proposed closure had been a "difficult decision" after a "significant effort" had been made over the past 10 years to invest in the GKN Driveline factory.
Labour's Mr Dromey described it as "a world-class producer for the automotive industry and one of the biggest suppliers into car plants across the West Midlands".
GKN WAS BOUGHT BY INVESTMENT FIRM MELROSE INDUSTRIES IN MARCH 2018.
The last sentence says it all really. Investment firm?
robinessex said:
GKN factory in Birmingham set to close putting 500 jobs at risk
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-5...
A car parts factory is set to close putting up to 519 jobs at risk.
Birmingham Erdington MP Jack Dromey said the announcement by GKN was "completely unexpected" and brought to an end more than 50 years of manufacturing at the Chester Road site.
Unite the union said it was seeking urgent meetings with GKN claiming the factory remains "extremely viable".
GKN said it had tried to reduce the site's operating costs but competition from abroad had made it unviable.
It said the proposed closure had been a "difficult decision" after a "significant effort" had been made over the past 10 years to invest in the GKN Driveline factory.
Labour's Mr Dromey described it as "a world-class producer for the automotive industry and one of the biggest suppliers into car plants across the West Midlands".
GKN WAS BOUGHT BY INVESTMENT FIRM MELROSE INDUSTRIES IN MARCH 2018.
The last sentence says it all really. Investment firm?
Do you reckon this is Brexit related?https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-5...
A car parts factory is set to close putting up to 519 jobs at risk.
Birmingham Erdington MP Jack Dromey said the announcement by GKN was "completely unexpected" and brought to an end more than 50 years of manufacturing at the Chester Road site.
Unite the union said it was seeking urgent meetings with GKN claiming the factory remains "extremely viable".
GKN said it had tried to reduce the site's operating costs but competition from abroad had made it unviable.
It said the proposed closure had been a "difficult decision" after a "significant effort" had been made over the past 10 years to invest in the GKN Driveline factory.
Labour's Mr Dromey described it as "a world-class producer for the automotive industry and one of the biggest suppliers into car plants across the West Midlands".
GKN WAS BOUGHT BY INVESTMENT FIRM MELROSE INDUSTRIES IN MARCH 2018.
The last sentence says it all really. Investment firm?
robinessex said:
Labour's Mr Dromey described it as "a world-class producer for the automotive industry and one of the biggest suppliers into car plants across the West Midlands".
GKN WAS BOUGHT BY INVESTMENT FIRM MELROSE INDUSTRIES IN MARCH 2018.
The last sentence says it all really. Investment firm?
Melrose paid £8bn for GKNGKN WAS BOUGHT BY INVESTMENT FIRM MELROSE INDUSTRIES IN MARCH 2018.
The last sentence says it all really. Investment firm?
The article said:
Labour called Melrose a "short-termist asset-stripper" and condemned the deal.
robinessex said:
GKN factory in Birmingham set to close putting 500 jobs at risk
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-5...
A car parts factory is set to close putting up to 519 jobs at risk.
Birmingham Erdington MP Jack Dromey said the announcement by GKN was "completely unexpected" and brought to an end more than 50 years of manufacturing at the Chester Road site.
Unite the union said it was seeking urgent meetings with GKN claiming the factory remains "extremely viable".
GKN said it had tried to reduce the site's operating costs but competition from abroad had made it unviable.
It said the proposed closure had been a "difficult decision" after a "significant effort" had been made over the past 10 years to invest in the GKN Driveline factory.
Labour's Mr Dromey described it as "a world-class producer for the automotive industry and one of the biggest suppliers into car plants across the West Midlands".
GKN WAS BOUGHT BY INVESTMENT FIRM MELROSE INDUSTRIES IN MARCH 2018.
The last sentence says it all really. Investment firm?
Investment firm? The cynic in me is thinking asset strippers... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-5...
A car parts factory is set to close putting up to 519 jobs at risk.
Birmingham Erdington MP Jack Dromey said the announcement by GKN was "completely unexpected" and brought to an end more than 50 years of manufacturing at the Chester Road site.
Unite the union said it was seeking urgent meetings with GKN claiming the factory remains "extremely viable".
GKN said it had tried to reduce the site's operating costs but competition from abroad had made it unviable.
It said the proposed closure had been a "difficult decision" after a "significant effort" had been made over the past 10 years to invest in the GKN Driveline factory.
Labour's Mr Dromey described it as "a world-class producer for the automotive industry and one of the biggest suppliers into car plants across the West Midlands".
GKN WAS BOUGHT BY INVESTMENT FIRM MELROSE INDUSTRIES IN MARCH 2018.
The last sentence says it all really. Investment firm?
Buy the company for their supply contracts, outsource the manufacture of the components abroard where it's cheaper and sell off everything else for some short term profit before rinsing and repeating with the next victim. Looking at the location on Google maps and it looks like a good site for a few hundred houses too...
Tango13 said:
Investment firm? The cynic in me is thinking asset strippers...
Buy the company for their supply contracts, outsource the manufacture of the components abroard where it's cheaper and sell off everything else for some short term profit before rinsing and repeating with the next victim. Looking at the location on Google maps and it looks like a good site for a few hundred houses too...
Buy the company for their supply contracts, outsource the manufacture of the components abroard where it's cheaper and sell off everything else for some short term profit before rinsing and repeating with the next victim. Looking at the location on Google maps and it looks like a good site for a few hundred houses too...
Tango13 said:
Investment firm? The cynic in me is thinking asset strippers...
Buy the company for their supply contracts, outsource the manufacture of the components abroard where it's cheaper and sell off everything else for some short term profit before rinsing and repeating with the next victim. Looking at the location on Google maps and it looks like a good site for a few hundred houses too...
But what the fBuy the company for their supply contracts, outsource the manufacture of the components abroard where it's cheaper and sell off everything else for some short term profit before rinsing and repeating with the next victim. Looking at the location on Google maps and it looks like a good site for a few hundred houses too...
k are the people in those new houses going to do when all the jobs have been exported abroad?Misanthrope said:
But what the fk are the people in those new houses going to do when all the jobs have been exported abroad?
That is a question neither the asset strippers nor the government have bothered to ask in the past 40 odd years I'm sorry to say.k are the people in those new houses going to do when all the jobs have been exported abroad?Manufacturing has become a dirty word in the UK over the years which is a crying shame when you consider the history of engineering in the UK
Tango13 said:
That is a question neither the asset strippers nor the government have bothered to ask in the past 40 odd years I'm sorry to say.
Manufacturing has become a dirty word in the UK over the years which is a crying shame when you consider the history of engineering in the UK
It's not that manufacturing has become a dirty word. It's the fact that corporate profit has become the be all and end all for shareholders of British companies and (rightly or wrongly) our laws don't interfere with this.Manufacturing has become a dirty word in the UK over the years which is a crying shame when you consider the history of engineering in the UK
IIRC the takeover of Danone in France was prevented because French politicians labelled it as a national security asset. Perhaps if we had that sort of attitude we would retain more manufacturing and industries in general in the UK
Sophisticated Sarah said:
Tango13 said:
Investment firm? The cynic in me is thinking asset strippers...
Buy the company for their supply contracts, outsource the manufacture of the components abroard where it's cheaper and sell off everything else for some short term profit before rinsing and repeating with the next victim. Looking at the location on Google maps and it looks like a good site for a few hundred houses too...
Buy the company for their supply contracts, outsource the manufacture of the components abroard where it's cheaper and sell off everything else for some short term profit before rinsing and repeating with the next victim. Looking at the location on Google maps and it looks like a good site for a few hundred houses too...
Countdown said:
It's not that manufacturing has become a dirty word. It's the fact that corporate profit has become the be all and end all for shareholders of British companies and (rightly or wrongly) our laws don't interfere with this.
IIRC the takeover of Danone in France was prevented because French politicians labelled it as a national security asset. Perhaps if we had that sort of attitude we would retain more manufacturing and industries in general in the UK
If people were not so willing to buy Cheaply made stuff then it would be closing down factories here to make them at a greater profit far far awayIIRC the takeover of Danone in France was prevented because French politicians labelled it as a national security asset. Perhaps if we had that sort of attitude we would retain more manufacturing and industries in general in the UK
Countdown said:
It's not that manufacturing has become a dirty word. It's the fact that corporate profit has become the be all and end all for shareholders of British companies and (rightly or wrongly) our laws don't interfere with this.
IIRC the takeover of Danone in France was prevented because French politicians labelled it as a national security asset. Perhaps if we had that sort of attitude we would retain more manufacturing and industries in general in the UK
This ^IIRC the takeover of Danone in France was prevented because French politicians labelled it as a national security asset. Perhaps if we had that sort of attitude we would retain more manufacturing and industries in general in the UK
Biggy Stardust said:
Is this the same Unite union that was often a pain in the arse when things are running normally?
Under rated comment. Having worked in manufacturing for a good few years, including Automotive (and even used to buy a few bits from GKN), I'd be interested to know how often since 2018 Unite have had their members down tools or work to rule because they've changed the Egg Mayo in the cafe, or been told they are not allowed to put Radio 2 on on the shop floor, or heard a rumour that the cleaners are gettng paid too much, or moaned that the office staff clearly dont do any work and they keep telling us what to do when we know better. Etc.
Its a real shame, they've done some interesting stuff GKN.
snotrag said:
Biggy Stardust said:
Is this the same Unite union that was often a pain in the arse when things are running normally?
Under rated comment. Having worked in manufacturing for a good few years, including Automotive (and even used to buy a few bits from GKN), I'd be interested to know how often since 2018 Unite have had their members down tools or work to rule because they've changed the Egg Mayo in the cafe, or been told they are not allowed to put Radio 2 on on the shop floor, or heard a rumour that the cleaners are gettng paid too much, or moaned that the office staff clearly dont do any work and they keep telling us what to do when we know better. Etc.
Its a real shame, they've done some interesting stuff GKN.
That's not the only GKN factory in Brum that being closed !
There's the Aerospace factory in Kings Norton too.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/business/bir...
In the division I worked at, since the 1920s they made aircraft windows, train windscreens, armoured glass for limos, tanks, etc.
I worked there from the early '70s for 20 years when it was Triplex Safety Glass.
It got bought by Pilkington who ran it for quite a while until Asahi from Japan took over Pilks and they sold off the business to GKN who had a company making similar but complimentary aircraft screens in Luton. Melrose bought GKN over and the rest is history.
Triplex were technology leaders back in the day making screens for Spitfires and many WW2 planes, all the V Bombers, Hunters, Harriers, Buccaneers, Jaguar, A10, A6, Merlin, etc. In fact most of the UK aerospace factories output had a Triplex screen.
The RAF Cosford museum is a trip down memory lane.
They also made civil stuff such as VC10, BAC 1-11, Concorde, 747, 737, Airbus, Dash 7 & 8, ATP, HS125, Jetstream, etc., etc.
The workforce were highly skilled and innovative with some very talented engineers and designers.
Happy days.
They died for lack of investment! But that's another story.
There's the Aerospace factory in Kings Norton too.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/business/bir...
In the division I worked at, since the 1920s they made aircraft windows, train windscreens, armoured glass for limos, tanks, etc.
I worked there from the early '70s for 20 years when it was Triplex Safety Glass.
It got bought by Pilkington who ran it for quite a while until Asahi from Japan took over Pilks and they sold off the business to GKN who had a company making similar but complimentary aircraft screens in Luton. Melrose bought GKN over and the rest is history.
Triplex were technology leaders back in the day making screens for Spitfires and many WW2 planes, all the V Bombers, Hunters, Harriers, Buccaneers, Jaguar, A10, A6, Merlin, etc. In fact most of the UK aerospace factories output had a Triplex screen.
The RAF Cosford museum is a trip down memory lane.
They also made civil stuff such as VC10, BAC 1-11, Concorde, 747, 737, Airbus, Dash 7 & 8, ATP, HS125, Jetstream, etc., etc.
The workforce were highly skilled and innovative with some very talented engineers and designers.
Happy days.
They died for lack of investment! But that's another story.
Edited by 55palfers on Tuesday 9th February 10:48
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