The news that an agreement has been signed to buy Corus’s Teesside Cast Products plant in Redcar is what the north east region has been crying out for.
We have a vested interest in the wellbeing of the region and the work of a registered provider goes beyond the provision of housing, involving the delivery of many vital community-based services which include tackling financial exclusion, unemployment and worklessness. The mothballing of the plant has created a significant adverse effect to this aim, with the loss of 1,600 direct jobs.
Since January, Coast & Country has been working with partner organisations including statutory, voluntary and stakeholder bodies, to help alleviate the impact of the plant’s closure but we can now look forward with renewed hope based on the knowledge that the Thai steel company SSI has signed a memorandum of understanding to buy the Redcar site from Corus.
Iain Sim, chief executive, Coast & Country