High-end enterprise park to replace Michelin plant in Ballymena

Michelin’s Raceview Road facility has been sold to experienced business park developer Silverwood.

In addition, it is anticipated that 10 acres of the facility will be given to Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.

Silverwood, which owns and manages Silverwood Business Park in Craigavon, will develop a high-end enterprise park made up of manufacturing, office and warehouse space, creating the potential for hundreds of jobs.

Meanwhile, the intention is that Mid and East Antrim Borough Council will use its land to bolster the area’s bid to host a Heathrow Logistics Hub.

Six sites in Northern Ireland are being considered for a hub, and it is expected the chosen area will attract significant inward investment. Silverwood’s own business park in Craigavon has also been shortlisted.

The council is also keen to develop a centre for manufacturing excellence.

The news follows more than two years’ intensive work by Michelin to help the 840 employees who worked at the factory when the closure was announced in November 2015.

Support has included retraining programmes, job application and interview technique advice, generous relocation packages for employees who want to work at other Michelin sites and advice to employees who want to retire.

In addition, Michelin Development has provided funding and mentoring to employees who want to start their own businesses. Michelin Development will continue to push its programme of support for start-ups and existing businesses across County Antrim – excluding Belfast.

John Milsted, factory manager at Michelin in Ballymena, said the deal was good news for Ballymena and for Northern Ireland as a whole – and highlighted Michelin’s continued commitment to support employees, former employees and the wider community.

He said: “We wanted to leave a legacy that would benefit the area for generations to come, and I think we have achieved that.

“We started making tyres in Ballymena almost half a century ago, and we are incredibly grateful to our employees and the community for all their support over the years. We have always tried to mirror that support, and we have no intention of stopping now.

“Over the last two years it has been my absolute priority to help colleagues find the best possible outcomes, and we have been extremely successful in finding around 700 employees rewarding alternatives to life at Michelin in Ballymena.

“Now we will do all we can to find jobs for the remaining employees before we close the gates at the end of June.”

Mr Milsted said Michelin Development had committed to helping start-ups and small businesses create at least 100 jobs a year for the next seven years.

He added: “We would like to thank both Silverwood and Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for their foresight and flexibility throughout this process. Their commitment to Ballymena and the wider region has enabled us to leave a legacy that will benefit the area for many, many years.”

Darren Costello of Silverwood Business Park Limited, said: “Silverwood are delighted to have purchased the Michelin premises in Ballymena and are looking forward to developing the premises into a mixed-use business park and bringing jobs back to the site.”

More than 1,000 people are employed at Silverwood Business Park in Craigavon, which has the potential for more than 1.5 million sq ft of commercial space.

Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Councillor Paul Reid, said: “This deal is great news for Ballymena and Mid and East Antrim, and we would like to thank Michelin for how this project has been handled. They have honoured their commitment to an extended two-and-a-half-year run-down period and from day one they have focused on supporting employees.

“We would also like to thank them for brokering a deal which sees the council being gifted 10 acres of land.

“Ballymena is a fantastic town full of talented, hardworking people. We believe it has an extremely bright future, and this agreement will go a long way to helping the town flourish.”

The council’s chief executive, Anne Donaghy, added: “We are fully committed to ensuring Mid and East Antrim is widely recognised as an advanced manufacturing centre of excellence and the engine room of the Northern Ireland economy.

“We are delighted with the endorsement given by Silverwood to support council in ensuring that a significant portion of the Michelin site is to remain a key manufacturing centre and that council will be a crucial player, along with Silverwood, in transforming the site which, once established, will lead to the creation of jobs.

“Michelin is a fantastic company and has been a great employer locally. The firm must be commended for what has been an extremely responsible exit and Council welcomes the outcome of more than two years’ work culminating in the creation and safeguarding of a vital legacy for the people of our borough.”

Production at the Michelin factory is scheduled to stop at the end of April. This is earlier than previously announced because machinery needs to be decommissioned and moved before Silverwood takes control of the site at the end of September. Efforts to find remaining employees alternative employment will be intensified, and personnel will continue to be paid until June 30