Engineering news
Liberty Speciality Steels is looking to hire the first 40 new staff, most of whom will be based at the bar mill at Rotherham, which is doubling the number of shifts in order to boost output from 78,000 tonnes to 137,000 tonnes a year.
Some of the new recruits will work at one of Rotherham’s two electric arc furnaces, which will also be increasing production, while others will be based at the company’s mill and finishing lines in Stocksbridge.
The news comes a month after Liberty House’s £100 million takeover of the business, which secured the future of 1,700 existing employees, and enabled the creation of a further 300 jobs.
“This is obviously good news for industry and for the local community," Unite national officer Tony Brady told Professional Engineering. "It is in no small part thanks to the skill and dedication of the workforce that Liberty House is looking to take on new workers and ramp up production.
“Unite will continue to work closely with Liberty House to ensure the speciality steel business goes from strength to strength and continues to develop world beating steel.”
Meanwhile, UK Steel director Gareth Stace said that while many of the external underlining causes of the steel crisis, such as dumping of products and uncompetitive energy costs, remain the Liberty House announcement shows that the industry is fighting back.
“Liberty’s commitment of significant investment in the sector and a bold ambition to boost jobs and production in Rotherham is indicative of the wider sector’s resilience and a determination to move past the difficulties of recent years,” Stace told Professional Engineering.
“This is fantastic news for the local economy in South Yorkshire, the supply chains that the sector feeds into and therefore the UK economy as a whole.”
The company said additional recruitment, including the engagement of new apprentices, will take place in September and employment will continue to grow over the next two to three years, as production expands.
Jon Bolton, chief executive of Liberty Speciality Steels, said: “We have big ambitions for the future so we’re eager to start the process of getting new people on board to help us move ahead with our plans.
“We’re looking for recruits from a broad range of backgrounds, especially adaptable people from the locality with a positive attitude and a hunger to learn about steel.”
Liberty, which is part of the GFG Alliance, acquired the Speciality Steels operation from Tata at the beginning of May as part of its GREENSTEEL strategy to establish a major integrated, competitive and low-carbon steel and engineering enterprise across the UK. A key component of this plan is the recycling of scrap steel in arc furnaces powered by renewable energy.
In the past 18 months alone the business, along with its sister company SIMEC, has invested more than £500 million in acquiring key industrial assets in Britain and it plans to invest hundreds of millions more to ensure the future of these facilities.
Speciality Steels produces a range of high-value steels, alloys and components used in the manufacture of vehicles, aircraft, industrial machinery and equipment for the oil and gas industry. More than two thirds of its products are exported worldwide.