British Steel sees bright future for Yorkshire workers

Major Yorkshire employer '‹British Steel '‹said it ended'‹ 2016 in profit following its first seven months of independence'‹ and it plans to reinstate the 3'‹ per cent'‹ salary sacrifice it agreed with workers when it took over the business last summer.
British Steel employs almost 3,500 workers in the Yorkshire regionBritish Steel employs almost 3,500 workers in the Yorkshire region
British Steel employs almost 3,500 workers in the Yorkshire region

​Executive Chairman Roland Junck said: “We employ over 4,400 people across the UK – almost 3,500 of them in the Yorkshire region – 325 at our Skinningrove site and the remainder at Scunthorpe.

“Our steel produced in Scunthorpe has been used in major construction projects across the world from the Olympic Stadium and the Shard in London to the Muscat International Airport in Oman.

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​"​Our Skinningrove site recently reached the milestone of supplying special profiles for over 20 million track shoes to Caterpillar’s neighbouring site. This was a fantastic landmark and a great example of how we work closely in partnership with our customers and local communities.”

British Steel’s Scunthorpe site has 130 kilometres of internal railway linking buildings such as the blast furnaces, where liquid iron at temperatures of 1,480 degrees Celsius leaves in torpedoes and travels to the ​s​teel ​p​lant.​

The company, bought from Tata by investment fund Greybull, said its turnaround plan ​i​s making progress and it ​i​s on track to deliver sustainable growth.

The Scunthorpe-based business said it had secured a series of significant contracts, including deals supplying steel for the construction of the Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset and rails for the Algerian and Italian train networks.

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​Mr Junck said: "I'm pleased to report that after our first seven months of trading, we are building on our promising start to life as British Steel.

"Having implemented the first stage of our turnaround plan, returning the business to profit and putting it on a sustainable footing, we are now well positioned to implement the next stage of the plan.​"

He said the group is​ already making good progress with significant contract awards from both new and existing customers across the globe.

"A vital part of maintaining our momentum and building on our success to date is our investment for the future - in our people and our plant. We are totally committed to becoming more energy efficient and further improving the quality of our products to ensure they meet the exacting and changing demands of our customers​," he said.​

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"Domestically we are in a unique position to provide large quantities of steel for developments throughout the UK, whether that be major infrastructure projects such as HS2 and Heathrow, or smaller projects such as the building of new schools or hospitals."

The return of the 3​ per cent​ salary sacrifice is planned for the 4,000 employees in June.

​​British Steel​ ​said it​ ​has committed £39m in capital expenditure and made several significant investments including £1.8m in scale removal at the Skinningrove site.