Tata Steel: 450 jobs at Corby site 'safe' due to £30m investment in greener future
Rosie Dowsing reports for ITV News Anglia from Tata Steel's Corby plant
Steel tube-making in Corby is an industry that will "thrive" for decades to come, despite job losses elsewhere in the country, say bosses at Tata Steel.
The Northamptonshire site, which employs around 450 people and produces 250,000 tonnes of steel tubes a year, is currently under a £30m redevelopment which is set to secure its "longevity and viability" as a steel plant.
Work is under way to install a new 700-tonne combination tube mill which should be operational from October and could mean steel tubes are produced for a further 30-40 years in Corby.
It is being part-funded from the sale of 99 acres of unused land on the site, which generated £12m for reinvestment.
Elsewhere thousands of jobs are at risk in Port Talbot in Wales, as Tata Steel closes down blast furnaces at its biggest UK plant.
Works manager Gary Blackman said the new mill and investment in Corby showed a commitment to protecting jobs there.
He said: "The wider business is obviously going through a transformation, but Corby has been ring-fenced with its own transformation plan.
"While there may be the odd job not required any more due to new equipment, it is absolutely not a cutting exercise, and I would like to see our volume grow from 300,000 to 500,000 tonnes in the next five years.
"I believe we’ve got the best tube makers in the world here, and if we have the best tube-making technology in the world then the opportunities are endless."
The new Labour MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire, Lee Barron, visited the site to show his support for one of the town's most historic industries.
He said: “We’ve made representations already in relation to the transformation Tata is going through.
"We should be able to offer jobs to those who still want to remain in the sector and have a long-term future based on that.
"The UK cannot be independent of steel, it needs its own UK steel industry and that goes for Corby.
"I'll make sure that when I'm in parliament I'll be speaking up loud and proud for the steel sector, so it can thrive in Corby.”
There is also a move to net zero at the Corby steelworks, as gas furnaces are gradually replaced with electric ones.
This year marks 90 years of steel tube-making in Corby, and the hope is that new equipment and big investment will ensure a sustainable future for the industry.
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