News: Liberty to make steel redundancies in South Yorkshire
In its first backwards step since acquiring operations in South Yorkshire, Liberty Steel has announced hundreds of redundancies, including at its sites in Rotherham.
International industrials and metals group, Liberty House, closed a deal with Tata Steel UK to acquire its Speciality Steels business, including the electric arc steelworks and bar mill at Rotherham, for a total consideration of £100m in 2017.
Re-starting the mothballed the N-Furnace at Aldwarke, the group has created 300 new jobs since the takeover and boosted production of high-grade steels, aiming to reach output of more than a million tonnes a year by 2020.
But now the firm has announced that 355 redundancies have been propsed for its sites in South Yorkshire and Wales. 250 at Stocksbridge in Sheffield, 17 at Aldwarke and 15 at Brinsworth, both in Rotherham.
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Cornelius Louwrens, chief executive at Liberty Steel UK, said: "Liberty has taken enormous strides in improving the performance of the steel mills it has acquired over the last six years. We've re-started mothballed plants and demonstrated a commitment to invest in the UK.
"Unfortunately, the steel industry in the UK is facing challenging conditions and we have made the difficult decision that there is a need to reduce the workforce at a handful of locations, in order to make them sustainable for the long-term."
Sarah Champion, MP for Rotherham, said: "I am extremely concerned and saddened by today's announcement of job losses at Liberty Steels in Rotherham. My deepest sympathy goes to those facing redundancy and their families. People losing their salaries will have far reaching repercussions and a direct impact on local communities and businesses.
"I will be urging Liberty to ensure they support affected employees to find new jobs and opportunities and to give reassurance that their long-term plans for the business still stand. I will also be working with the Council and Government agencies to see that a package of support is in place.
"For the last seven years I have repeatedly challenged the Government to address the underlying issues that hold back steel production in the UK; high business rates, high electricity costs, imports of cheap steel and a failure to prioritise British steel in government procurement. Unless the government removes these massive obstacles to having a competitive UK steel industry, the future of this vital strategic industry remains bleak. It is their duty to protect the steel sector and I have requested an urgent meeting with the Minister to hold them to account on these points."
Liberty Steel website
Images: Liberty Steel
International industrials and metals group, Liberty House, closed a deal with Tata Steel UK to acquire its Speciality Steels business, including the electric arc steelworks and bar mill at Rotherham, for a total consideration of £100m in 2017.
Re-starting the mothballed the N-Furnace at Aldwarke, the group has created 300 new jobs since the takeover and boosted production of high-grade steels, aiming to reach output of more than a million tonnes a year by 2020.
But now the firm has announced that 355 redundancies have been propsed for its sites in South Yorkshire and Wales. 250 at Stocksbridge in Sheffield, 17 at Aldwarke and 15 at Brinsworth, both in Rotherham.
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Cornelius Louwrens, chief executive at Liberty Steel UK, said: "Liberty has taken enormous strides in improving the performance of the steel mills it has acquired over the last six years. We've re-started mothballed plants and demonstrated a commitment to invest in the UK.
"Unfortunately, the steel industry in the UK is facing challenging conditions and we have made the difficult decision that there is a need to reduce the workforce at a handful of locations, in order to make them sustainable for the long-term."
Sarah Champion, MP for Rotherham, said: "I am extremely concerned and saddened by today's announcement of job losses at Liberty Steels in Rotherham. My deepest sympathy goes to those facing redundancy and their families. People losing their salaries will have far reaching repercussions and a direct impact on local communities and businesses.
"I will be urging Liberty to ensure they support affected employees to find new jobs and opportunities and to give reassurance that their long-term plans for the business still stand. I will also be working with the Council and Government agencies to see that a package of support is in place.
"For the last seven years I have repeatedly challenged the Government to address the underlying issues that hold back steel production in the UK; high business rates, high electricity costs, imports of cheap steel and a failure to prioritise British steel in government procurement. Unless the government removes these massive obstacles to having a competitive UK steel industry, the future of this vital strategic industry remains bleak. It is their duty to protect the steel sector and I have requested an urgent meeting with the Minister to hold them to account on these points."
Liberty Steel website
Images: Liberty Steel
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