400 jobs to be created at newly-named Teesworks

The regeneration of the former Redcar steelworks site has taken a major step forward this week (July 28) after local leaders set out plans that will see almost 400 jobs created and around £400 million of investment over the next 12 months.

Opening the newly-named “Teesworks” site, Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen announced a string of new contracts to go out for tender in the coming weeks.

Local businesses across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool are encouraged to bid.

In the next year, 19 separate demolitions will take place and 18 individual contracts will go out for tender, creating 390 jobs, 39 of which will be for apprentices. In total, 775 jobs will be created through a total investment of £393 million.

The new Teesworks brand has been designed with Middlesbrough-based Better brand agency to appeal to both international investors and local people. A new site entrance will also be built by the end of the year.

Mayor Houchen said: “My 12-month plan for the former steelworks is a plan for local people and local businesses to create jobs, jobs and more jobs. Due to the sheer scale of the site, the numbers are huge and there is nothing like this anywhere else in the UK.

“More than 200 local jobs have already been created on the site, but this is just the beginning. Over the next year, we will go on to create hundreds more real jobs for real people in our communities.

“We own the land, we have the keys, the diggers are in place and we are getting on with the job we promised to the former steelworkers, some of which are already back on site in new jobs.

“We want businesses to know what opportunities are coming up so they can bid for them and support jobs in Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool, which is more important than ever as we recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Our new website will do exactly that.

“The hundreds of jobs we are creating and the investment we are bringing in will help us change the skyline of Teesside forever.

“This is a site with a proud history and one which has touched the lives of so many local people and we can make it a site they are proud of again.”

Councillor Mary Lanigan, Leader of Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, added: “We have a world class industrial site and a first rate workforce, and it is time to unleash our potential to the full.

“It has taken years of hard work to get this stage and now we’re knuckling down with our partners to make sure this site is even more attractive to investors here in the UK and right across the globe.

“Investing in this industrial centre has the potential to bring thousands of first class jobs to our borough for decades to come and we are fully determined to do all it takes to make sure that potential becomes reality.”

Local businesses and workers can find out about contracts and job opportunities at Teesworks by visiting www.teesworks.co.uk.