Tuesday, June 13, 2017

News: Liberty begins recruitment of steelworkers in Rotherham

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Liberty House has begun the first phase of its drive to recruit new steelworkers, as it expands production at its recently-acquired Speciality Steels business in South Yorkshire.

Having secured a £100m deal to acquire the Speciality Steels division of Tata Steel UK, the international industrials and metals group promptly announced expansion plans that are expected to generate an additional 300 production jobs in the business with an investment of £20m in the first year.

Working closely with trade unions, Liberty Speciality Steels this week starts the process of hiring the first 40 new staff, most of whom will be assigned to the bar mill at Rotherham, which is doubling the number of shifts in order to boost output from 78,000 tonnes to 137,000 tonnes a year.

Production from the arc furnaces is expected to rise to over a million tonnes per annum and there are plans for the bar mill to roll over 400,000 tonnes a year.

Some of the new recruits will work at one of Rotherham's two electric arc furnaces, which will also be increasing production, while others will be based at the company's mill and finishing lines in Stocksbridge.

Further recruitment, including the engagement of new apprentices, will take place in September and employment will continue to grow over the next two to three years, as production expands.

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Speciality Steels produces a range of high-value steels, alloys and components used in the manufacture of vehicles, aircraft, industrial machinery and equipment for the oil and gas industry. More than two thirds of its products are exported worldwide.

Jon Bolton, chief executive of Liberty Speciality Steels, said: "We have big ambitions for the future so we're eager to start the process of getting new people on board to help us move ahead with our plans.

"We're looking for recruits from a broad range of backgrounds, especially adaptable people from the locality with a positive attitude and a hunger to learn about steel. We've got many highly-talented and experienced people on the team here who will train newcomers for key roles in an exciting industry entering a promising new era."

Liberty is pioneering a GREENSTEEL strategy to establish a major integrated, competitive and low-carbon steel and engineering enterprise across the UK. A key component of this plan is the recycling of scrap steel in arc furnaces powered by renewable energy.

Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of Liberty House (pictured, left) said: "What speciality steels brings to the Liberty House Group is a foundation for our GREENSTEEL strategy which is about making recycled steel from steel scrap that is abundantly available in the UK.

"We have announced a plan to make five million tonnes over the next five years and this [the South Yorkshire sites] gives us an immediate platform with over a million tonnes of arc furnace capacity - the largest in the country."
Explaining the expansion plans, Bolton added: "The first element is to increase our output and improve our service and product in the aerospace sector specifically, but also industrial engineering and oil and gas.

"Secondly, it is to bring more volume to Rotherham and Thrybergh, increase the output of bar, go into markets that we have withdrawn from like North America and in Europe, therefore increasing the output of the bar mill, increasing the output of the arc furnace and bringing us efficiency and volume improvements."

Recruitment is being handled by Adecco's Sheffield office. Current vacancies advertised by Liberty House include commercial manager, engineering manager, system software engineer and cast planner / allocator.

Liberty Speciality Steel website

Images: Liberty House


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