In June 2000 the Volvo plant in Irvine closed with the loss of hundreds of jobs after 25 years of operation in the town.
250 highly skilled truck production jobs were lost, along with at least another 200 who worked at the factory. Then-leader of North Ayrshire Council, James Clements, said the loss of the plant was a colossal blow to the area.
The plant opened in Irvine in 1975 and focused solely on truck production. For 15 years the site was known for producing high-quality trucks that were to be used all over the world. The trucks could frequently be seen on the roads of Irvine, being tested before being delivered to customers.
The most famous customers of the plant were legendary Swedish pop group ABBA who contacted Volvo for a special truck to carry their crews and gear all across Europe while on tour. They also requested the trucks be put together as soon as possible.
Despite contacting Volvo in Gothenburg, they were told that the only Volvo plant that had the skills to build such specialist vehicles at high quality was the Scottish plant in Irvine. The trucks were built in Irvine and shipped back to Sweden for ABBA to collect them in time for the tour.
In 1993, Volvo bough the Leyland bus assembly plant in England and brought production of the buses to Irvine.
The plant produced 50,000 trucks and 8,000 buses in 25 years of operation and was a huge part of the industrial history of both Irvine and North Ayrshire.