Michelin taskforce meets today.

MICHELIN: Steve Dunlop says site’s workforce is its greatest asset

The man charged with heading up the taskforce to save Michelin in Dundee has said he is convinced the plant has a future beyond 2020.

Scottish Enterprise chief executive Steve Dunlop will chair the Michelin Action Group, which meets for the first time in Dundee today.

Members of the taskforce, who include Dundee City Council leader John Alexander, Finance Secretary Derek Mackay and Scottish Secretary David Mundell, have just three weeks to convince the French tyre makers not to pull out of Dundee.

It is understood the Scottish Government may look at offering Michelin tax breaks to remain in Dundee but Mr Dunlop said the 845-strong workforce at the Baldovie factory may be the biggest factor in its favour.

It has been reported that the company’s tax bill for its Dundee factory has increased by around £300,000 in recent years due to the Large Business Supplement.

But Mr Dunlop said he believes the workforce itself may be the ultimate deciding factor.

He said: “When I look at the capability, the talent and what’s been delivered at the plant over generations I have no doubt there is a strong, quality workforce and therefore, for me, if anything can be done, it will be. “The question is what will it become. “Michelin are clear about the fundamental business of manufacturing that particular tyre product. It is difficult to see how we can persuade them to continue to manufacture 16-inch tyres.”

Mr Dunlop said the action group will first seek to extend the length of time Michelin are prepared to continue making 16-inch tyres at the factory while working to find a new role for the plant.

He said: “In parallel with that effort we will be thinking about repurposing and that’s where the talent of the workforce, the trade unions and the working group will come to bear.”

Mr Dunlop added the groundbreaking technology used at the plant to provide energy – the two wind turbines and the new incinerator at Baldovie due to come online soon – coupled with the plant’s workforce means there is hope of a future for Michelin in Dundee.

“This workforce has responded to challenges time after time after time and they come up with innovative solutions,” he said.

“Along with the building the workforce is the key asset.

“The reasons for Michelin’s decisions are industry reasons, market conditions, and we need to understand that. It has never been a criticism of Dundee, it is to do with macro-economic reasons.”

The Courier revealed last Monday that Michelin had decided to shut down the Dundee factory.

The firm made the decision on October 9 and notified the Scottish Government on November 2.

But they do not intend to stop production in Dundee until 2020, something Mr Dunlop said offers an opportunity to find a way forward.

He said: “The thing for me is we have 18 months here – that’s an enormous length of time.”

Mr Dunlop added no one is, at this stage, willing to contemplate that Michelin cannot be convinced to retain a presence in Dundee.

The working group will meet at DC Thomson and Co Ltd’s Meadowside headquarters this morning.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said: “Despite confirming they intend to close the plant in 2020, Michelin have agreed to give our proposition a hearing and so time is off the essence.

“The Michelin Action Group will work tirelessly in the coming weeks to produce a proposition that outlines what can be done to help retain a presence in Dundee and examine how the plant could be repurposed for the future if Michelin decide to press ahead with the closure.”

In many ways the battle for 845 Dundee jobs begins in earnest today. The Scottish Government assembled task force will gather in the city to try and thrash out a package that will save Michelin, or at least secure futures for employees at the plant.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay will chair the first session and the group will have to find a way of listening to the ideas of the large number of good people involved without allowing it to become an inert talking shop.

There is no doubt that the people who are coming together to try and salvage something for the workforce are doing so with a determination to deliver a result.

It must be hoped that will be met with goodwill from the French firm’s management when the crucial pitch takes place three weeks from now.

What an early Christmas present it would be for those factory workers to have their futures secured, rather than being left to enter the festive season in the knowledge they have just months of employment left.

In some ways, Michelin itself staying in the city is not what matters most.

Of course the ideal scenario is that the company stays, saving the jobs in the process, but even if it leaves it can make the process easier of finding a new firm that will take on as many of the employees as possible.

Finding a future for each and every staff member must be the most important target of the action group.

Scottish Enterprise chief executive Steve Dunlop will chair the Michelin Action Group, which meets today.

The Courier revealed last Monday that Michelin had decided to shut down the Dundee factory.