Employment:

Plant where jobs lost now taking on staff again

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has formally reopened Scotland’s last major steelworks.

Indian conglomerate Tata ceased production at its Dalzell steel plate mill in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, and the Clydebridge plant in nearby Cambuslang in 2015 with the loss of 270 jobs.

The plants were bought by metals firm Liberty House earlier this year, and Ms Sturgeon officially marked the restart of the Dalzell steel mill yesterday morning. Liberty House saidmany of the 120 staff at the plant are former employees, and it hopes to increase employment to 200 within 18 months.

Jon Bolton, chief executive of Liberty Steel UK Plates and UK Steel Development, said the reopening of the plant is “hugely important” to the steel industry in Scotland. He said: “Without it restarting, there wouldn’t be a steel industry in Scotland. As the first minister said today, it’s not just about boosting the steel industry, it’s about the economy. It’s expected to bring in another £15million a year to the local economy. We intend to ramp up production to 150,000tonnes a year.”

He said he is “confident” Clydebridge will also reopen in the “near future”, adding that other potential uses such as for manufacturing towers for wind turbines are under consideration for that plant.

Ms Sturgeon was given a tour of the Dalzell mill and met workers and apprentices before the plant was blessed in a traditional Indian ceremony.

The first minister said: “This is a fantastic day for Dalzell workers, for Motherwell and for Scotland’s steel industry.

“Restarting steel production has only been possible thanks to the tremendous team effort of everyone involved in the steel taskforce to find a viable future for this site, meaning workers here in Lanarkshire can once again produce worldclass products.”

Sanjeev Gupta, the Liberty House Group executive chairman, paid tribute to the support of the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise in helping the company rescue the plate works.

“It’s not just about boosting steel industry, it’s about the economy”