IT has been quite a week for industry on Teesside. The announcement that Sita UK and Sembcorp UK had won a £1.2bn contract to build a waste-to-energy plant was, quite rightly, met with great acclaim and celebration.

The move will create about 50 jobs and about 200 construction posts, with the Wilton-based factory, near Redcar, turning more than 430,000 tonnes of household waste from Merseyside into energy each year, starting in 2016.

Yet that jubilation was tempered by the news from Sabic UK, who revealed plans to cut 160 workers’ posts – 110 permanent roles and 50 contractors – from its 700-strong workforce, after bosses said it had become trapped in a perfect storm of increased foreign competition and the European recession.

Coming on the back of GDF Suez’s decision to turn down its Teesside Power Station, in Wilton, to zero megawatts, and Ensus’ earlier announcement this month to halt production at its ethanol refinery, it was a real blow.

Speaking to Mike Ducker, Sabic’s Teesside manufacturing director, the disappointment was clear.

He was understandably down, the tone of his voice when answering my questions more than reflected that.

But he remained resolute and committed to keeping the business on Teesside, vowing the company had a future “it could really grab hold of”.

The fact remains that 160 jobs, which affect several hundred more people, will go, and only time will tell if Sabic UK is able to grasp that desired success.

But we must hope that Sabic can come back stronger from this setback for the good of its staff and the region.

CAST your mind back about nine months. Can you remember how you were spending your summer?

Chances are you will have been among the millions soaking up the addictive thrills and spills of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Those halcyon days are now a distant memory, but we have a story today that rekindles those golden moments.

Neue Schule, in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, makes bits for horses’ mouths and works with Nicola Wilson, from Morton-on-Swale, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, who won a team eventing silver medal at the Games.

Their story features on our Odd Jobs page today, and reveals how, while helping riders stay in control of their animals, it is managing to stay firmly in control of its destiny.

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