Michelin is the event’s sponsor and enjoys a major role in the local community. Their truck and bus tyre manufacturing plant is one of the area’s largest employers and the firm has recently invested a further £14 million in new machinery for the factory.
Graham Whitehurst, the factory manager at Michelin Ballymena, told the gathering that the company was “very happy to be the major sponsor,” drawing attention to the heavy involvement of the tyremaker in “many areas in the community.”
He also mentioned Michelin Development, the company’s business assistance wing, which provides advice and competitively priced loans to small businesses, saying also that the department has “helped to create 160 jobs in the Borough” over the last three years. (Tyres & Accessories/Staffordshire, U.K.)
