Corus presses green light on jobs

Corus Speciality Steels is looking for 14 apprentices and seven graduates

Steelmaker Corus is to resume recruiting graduates and apprentices and plans to take on more than 150 new workers at its South Yorkshire plants.

Corus Speciality Steels is looking for 14 apprentices and seven graduates – the first time the business has recruited trainees since the recession began. 

It is also looking for 133 new workers to support steel manufacturing and steel rolling operations in South Yorkshire – 90 in Stocksbridge and 43 in Rotherham. 

The latest plans will bring the number of new workers hired by the firm to more than 300 since March.

Peter Hogg, speciality steels general manager, said the recruitment of apprentices and graduates was a sign the business was committed to the future.

“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.”

“We need to train new people now to ensure we don’t have a skills shortage in the future. The recruitment of apprentices and graduates is an investment.”

The new recruitment follows a campaign in March that led to the business taking on 160 workers.