As Tata Steel celebrates 50 years of its 20-inch mill in Hartlepool, works manager Andrew Ward exclusively tells Nick Gullon why the best is yet to come

STEEL has almost become a dirty word in the North-East.

For many, it brings back memories of a once thriving industry now in ruin, an industrial site that could soon be banished from the landscape, and a workforce still coming to terms with the loss of careers that went back through generations of families.

But two-and-a-half years on and a few miles up the road from the collapsed Redcar steelworks, one firm has a future that appears to be burning a lot brighter.

“We have been able to weather the storms,” says Andrew Ward, works manager at Tata Steel’s 20-inch mill in Hartlepool.

“The Hartlepool site is one of the strongest assets in the UK for us because of the multi-product offering that the mill serves.

“We are investing in the plant and we have some good programmes to improve the sustainability of the business, but the thing I think we have got is the people – they make the difference.

“We have got buildings and machines but they are nothing without the pride and the commitment these people have when they work in the mill.”

Bosses at Tata have previously vowed its North-East presence won’t be going anywhere, having offloaded sections of its Hartlepool-based pipe mill operation, known for processing steel for the offshore energy sector, to Liberty House Group, and its loss-making Long Products division to investor Greybull Capital.

Under the terms of its Liberty deal, the former took on 42- inch and 84-inch mills, known as the Submerged Arc Weld mills, in a bid to get a stronger foothold in the offshore pipe market.

Tata Steel retained a neighbouring 20-inch mill, since it is linked to the company’s strip products business that is centred on steelmaking in Port Talbot, in Wales.

And Mr Ward knows how important the business is to the people of Hartlepool.

“I think it is massive - the steel industry was a huge part of Hartlepool.

“This particular site at one point employed more than 5,000 people and was a fully integrated steel works.

“It served the community and the community has played a big part. We are currently recruiting for some additional people and probably 80 per cent of the people come from the local area.”

The mill has helped create some of the most iconic structures in the world, including Wembley Stadium, the Louvre in Abu Dhabi, New York’s Freedom Tower the London Eye and HMS Queen Elizabeth.

The recent expansion of Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium was one of many football projects the mill has also served, as well as stadiums in South Africa and Cameroon.

Last month, the company revealed year-on-year revenues were 18 per cent higher in the three months to December 31, and deliveries were also higher compared to the previous 12 months.

Mr Ward sees no reason why the future should not be even more positive.

“Well, if you think about what it might hold, some of the sections and products that we manufacture are going to play a massive part in the development, growth and future of the world.

“Energy consumption is due to double.

"When you think of the futuristic cities and you look at the type of buildings they involve, that really is the heartbeat of our business.

“We’ve recently secured some strong orders in the Norwegian and North Sea again, and volume in the last 12 months has increased by 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes.”

Last week, Tata celebrated half a century since it began processing steel in its 20-inch Hartlepool mill. To mark the occasion, bosses invited Alexander Bradley, Jazmyn Williamson, Evie Blair - all ten-years-old - and nine-year-old Jay French, from Barnard Grove Primary School, in Hartlepool, to bury a historic time capsule and release some balloons to mark the occasion.

“It is fantastic – when I understood that the 20-inch mill was going to be celebrating 50 years, I knew it was really important to mark that celebration.

“We’ve had people fly in from across the world - from Singapore, to Houston in America, as well as places across Europe.

“The success of the 20-inch mill is its people and the relationships we have with our stakeholders - to think 50 years of pipe manufacturing, it is outstanding.

“We are the custodians of the legacy I guess, and it is not just about looking back over the last 50 years, it is looking forward over the next 50 years and onwards, so it is exciting.”