Steel jobs saved as Tata Steel announce sale
Two mills in our region have been included as part of the sale, including Skinningrove and Lackenby.
Hundreds of steel jobs in our region have been saved today as Tata Steel announce the sale of their Long Products business.
The firm has sold of this division of their business to Greybull Capital, with the sale expected to be completed in eight weeks time.
Two of the sites - Teesside Beam Mill at Lackenby and the Skinningrove plant - will be saved as part of the sale.
There are no plans by the new owners to cut any further jobs from the company.
Greybull say the existing management will remain and the search for CEO of the company has begun.
Rob Middlemas works at the Skinningrove site and says there's now more hope for the future.
He said: "It's been a very uncertain time, it's not been nice at all these last six months.
"It's a great day but it's tinged with sadness because of what happened recently at SSI.
"We all have friends and colleagues who worked there and our thought go out to them.
"Things have got to turn around eventually, we've been in this slump for far too long.
"I'm pretty convinced we'll all have a more stable future going forward."
The sale has also been welcomed by the unions representing the steel workers.
Roy Rickhuss, General Secretary of the steelworkers’ union, Community, said:
"We welcome this major step forward towards a deal which will continue steel making in Scunthorpe and secure the future of the Long Products business across the UK.
"Greybull's interest in the business is testament to the skills, experience and commitment of UK steelworkers and demonstrates that with the right investors UK steel making can have a positive future.
"So far, Tata Steel has honoured its commitment to be a responsible seller of the business by allowing time for the deal to be done."
Labour MP for Redcar Anna Turley said: “I am pleased a future has been secured for Tata’s Long Products Division including the two sites on Teesside and I know it will be a relief to the workforce and their families who will have spent recent weeks and months anxious about their jobs and livelihoods.
"The agreement with Greybull shows that there is a positive future for UK steel and that it will continue to make a vital contribution to the economy, including in Teesside.
"We have a highly skilled and highly motivated workforce whose commitment to their industry is the bedrock of this deal.
"It is reassuring that Greybull intend to maintain staffing levels with no further job reductions other than those previously announced by Tata."