GKN Automotive to close driveline plant
GKN Automotive have announced plans to close their Birmingham factory, threatening over 500 jobs.
The company has said that the Chester Road factory, which produces drivelines, principally for JLR and other automotive companies, will close over the next 18 months.
The site, one of 56 GKN facilities worldwide, is used as a driveshaft assembly facility. Its closure follows the 2018 takeover of GKN by investment firm Melrose Industries for £8.1 billion.
A spokesperson for GKN Automotive said: “Proposing this closure is a difficult decision which has been made despite significant effort and investment over the past ten years to reduce the high operating costs at the Birmingham assembly site.
“Sadly, an increasingly competitive global market means that the site is no longer viable. Supporting our people is our priority as we consult on our proposals. ”
The company, formerly known as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds, can trace its origins back to 1759 and the birth of the industrial revolution. 1902 Nettlefolds was combined with Guest, Keen and Co to create Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds.
The company's name is the initials of three early figures in its history: John Guest, Arthur Keen, and Joseph Henry Nettlefold. All three were key figures in the field of iron and steel during the Industrial Revolution.
Ivor Guest sold the Dowlais Iron Company in Wales to Arthur Keen and Windsor Richards of Birmingham's Patent Nut and Bolt Company in June 1900. They combined the two businesses and formed Guest, Keen & Co. Limited on 1 November 1900.
Twelve months later, Guest Keen & Co bought and amalgamated Nettlefolds Limited into their new combine giving it the style Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Limited.
Throughout the majority of the twentieth century, though steel production remained the core of GKN, it branched into tooling and component manufacturing. During the 1980s, GKN Steel reduced its presence in the steel sector, selling off or shutting down its works.
GKN Steel renamed itself GKN during 1986 to indicate its shift away from steel production. Business activities were re-orientated around the aerospace, automotive and industrial services markets.
In 1994, GKN purchased Westland Aircraft; the company later organised the latter's merger to form AgustaWestland and its sale to Italian defence firm Finmeccanica.