SCOTLAND’S steel industry was brought back to life yesterday as the last major mothballed steelworks re-opened with plans to double its workforce within 18 months and secure the industry’s future for decades to come.
The First Minister returned to the Dalzell plate mill in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, to celebrate its official opening with 200 guests and a traditional Indian ceremony, little more than a year after visiting the same site to be told that the steel industry was on its “last legs” and that Tata was closing Scotland’s last remaining plants with the loss of 225 jobs.
Lang may yer lum reek — Liberty House gets a traditional welcome as Dalzell steel plan reopens
Nicola Sturgeon recalled how back then the outlook for Scotland’s steel industry “looked very bleak indeed” until Liberty House took over the Dalzell mill and Clydebridge plant in Cambuslang in April, under a deal brokered by the Scottish Government’s steel taskforce.
She said: “I can’t really adequately sum up in words how delighted I am to be here. I visited Dalzell the week after Tata made the announcement that Dalzell and Clydebridge were to be mothballed and that day, although there was a real determination on the part of everybody to do everything we could to find a new future for these plants, there was also a real sombre mood around that day, so to be back here with such a buzz about the place and see so many people back here in employment and a really bright optimistic future ahead for steel-making in Scotland is such a privilege.
“Eighteen months ago, the outlook here looked very bleak indeed, the steel industry looked as if it might be on its last legs in Scotland, but we made a commitment to the workers here that we would leave no stone unturned. That is the approach we took and I am delighted to say we have kept that promise.
“The taskforce made real progress on business rates relief, lowering energy costs at the plant, improving the environmental conditions and upskilling and retaining core staff. One of the things we knew we had to do was keep a core staff here in order to maintain the plants so that they were capable of being re-opened.
“I want to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart who kept the faith, who, no matter how bleak it looked, gave a commitment and worked hard to turn that commitment into reality.”
She said there were hopes that the 115-strong workforce would be doubled over the next 18 months, more apprentices would be taken on in engineering, finance and planning, and there were also plans for a fresh intake of graduates.
“This is about giving a new lease of life to a proud industry and imagining a bright future that many, many, many years from now we will still see steel-making here in the west of Scotland.
“This is a great day for Dalzell, a great day for the steel industry and manufacturing in Scotland, and a great day for our country,” added Sturgeon.
Liberty House Group executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta paid tribute to the support of the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and the workforce in helping the company rescue the plate works. He also said there were plans afoot to get the Clydebridge plant up and running in the near future.
He said Scotland’s passion was the inspiration behind the steel giant’s decision to invest in the country and promised the opening of the Dalzell plant was a “rebirth” and a “new era” for the country’s steel industry.
Gupta said: “The support from the First Minister and the whole Scottish Government, as well as Scottish Enterprise, has been absolutely amazing. The taskforce, the unions and the workers have all been so supportive. We’ve never had such a positive experience ever before. It is really a pleasure to work in this environment.
“There is a lot of passion full stop in Scotland. This is the one of the reasons that will drive us to do a lot more in Scotland. Things happen and happen quickly here. There is a commitment and willingness. We have never seen that kind of drive and it is really quite inspiring and motivating, and it will definitely, 100 per cent, lead us to do a lot more in Scotland.”
He said Scotland was firmly in his vision for the future of green steel plants, making liquid steel from scrap, and that restarting a steel plant from scratch in just five months had never been done before, putting the success mainly down to the retention and retraining of skilled workers.
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