Steel giant Corus to recruit in South Yorkshire

The latest plans will bring the number of new workers hired by the firm to more than 300 since March, with the Speciality Steels division recruiting trainees for the first time since the recession started.

The new jobs were an investment in the future of the business, said Corus.

Peter Hogg, Speciality Steels general manager, said: "Just over a year ago, I was explaining to people why the business was having to undergo a painful restructuring which led to the loss of more than 1,000 jobs.

"At the lowest point, our orders had shrunk to about a quarter of where they were.

"Since then we have been refocusing the business on supplying specialist steel products to the world's most demanding markets, like aerospace and energy exploration and generation. Now we are in a position where we are recovering so we can strengthen the business.

"Many of our products have extremely high technical and chemical specifications, and we need to train new people now to ensure we don't have a skills shortage in the future."