Goodyear to Shutter 88-Year Old Tire Plant in U.K.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has confirmed it will close its sole factory in the U.K., an 88-year-old facility in Wolverhampton. The company announced the plan in June.

The two-year-long shutdown, which will eliminate 330 jobs, is expected to begin in December. Goodyear acquired the facility in 1927 and once employed 7,000 people there.

The factory currently retreads truck tires and blends rubber compounds for other Goodyear plants. But the company says the operation is no longer financially viable. The work done at Wolverhampton will be transferred to facilities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to the company.