North East Will Get £60m Boost After Corus Cuts

Lord Mandelson will pump £60 million of taxpayers’ funds into businesses in the North East of England to help to offset the effect of 1700 steel workers losing their jobs on Teesside.
The Business Secretary has secured the funding for the North East—the region of his own constituency when he was MP for Hartlepool—only days after Corus, the steelmaker, said that it would wind down production at its slab steel plant in Redcar.
The funds are to be sliced. Of the £60 million, about a third will be earmarked for Wilton International, a nearby chemicals company, which the peer hopes will allow for the creation of up to 300 new jobs and sustain 10000 others in the long term. Wilton is the area’s other big employer. Separately, £10 million will be provided for apprenticeships and support for people starting new businesses, as a direct result of the job losses at Corus.
Lord Mandelson said that, following the announcement that Corus will mothball its Redcar plant, they must act to secure long-term employment in sustainable manufacturing in the region.
“Today’s investment from the Government and the regional development agency will strengthen existing industries and create new opportunities. Teesside has the skills, the workforce and the infrastructure to compete in future advanced and low-carbon manufacturing. We are acting to ensuring they have the best support to succeed.”
Lord Mandelson has long believed that the North East has a unique opportunity to shift from heavy industry to businesses that are focused on low-carbon, advanced manufacturing and biotech.
The Government said that it had decided to prioritise a number of projects to secure immediate investment to support workers in the area, with the aim of creating 3000 new jobs in the short and medium term.
Corus has been struggling to replace an Italian-led consortium that reneged on a promise made in 2004 to buy about 80% of the Redcar plant’s output over a ten-year period.
Corus, which is owned by Tata, the Indian conglomerate, said that it could not continue to bankroll the plant. The 1700 job losses are in addition to 5000 at Corus in the UK already this year.