A POSSIBLE 800 new jobs were on the way for Craigavon as a deal to buy the defunct Goodyear was sealed in 1985.
The Silverwook plant was bought for a sum thought to be well over £500,000 by Hillsborough and Belfast based firm FG Wilson Engineering.
The firm intended to use the factory to manufacture what they believed to be a revoultionary road trailer.
The man behind the deal was Lisburn business man, Fred Wilson, and the ‘MAIL’ highlighted his sale negotiations with the Industrial Development Board (IDB).
The IDB, on taking over the plant after its controversal closure in October 1983 set the price tag.
But it was believed that Mr Wilson had to offer more to beat-off other opposition who were apparently interested in the factory.
The news of the sale came when Wilson Engineering showed off their new road trailer design to 50 interested English haulage companies in Hillsborough.
The new design was able to handle the work of two conventional trailer units.
And while Mr Wilson was hopeful about his new road trailer, he was also content about his choice of site.
The sale and the setting up of the opening were not known, and as many as 800 jobs could have been created.
The plant had not been in production since October, 1983 when 773 workers were made redundant by the multinational Goodyear Rubber Company.
The full article contains 235 words and appears in Lurgan Mail newspaper.
