THOUSANDS of workers face jobs misery after two major North-East employers announced cuts to their workforce.

The tax office is closing six bases, putting up to 3,000 posts in the region at risk, while miner ICL UK will axe about 700 roles after running out of potash.

Tax bosses say sites in Middlesbrough, Thornaby, Peterlee and Sunderland will close. Read the full story here.

In a further blow, ICL says more than 350 staff will go at its Boulby site, in east Cleveland, early next year, with a further 350 expected to go by 2018, after the firm discovered its potash reserves would be exhausted by 2018. The move adds to a prolonged downturn in the North-East’s employment landscape.

Nearly 4,000 people are looking for work after steelmaker SSI UK’s Redcar demise, while 700 contractors face uncertainty after Air Products suspended work on a waste factory in Billingham, near Stockton.

About 100 people have also been laid off after Caparo Industries’ shut its Hartlepool foundry, and the future of 700 posts at Tata Steel’s Long Products division remains unclear after it cut 44 jobs in the region.

North-East job losses over the past month:

  • 2,200 at SSI Redcar
  • 800 at SSI suppliers
  • 1,000 SSI contractors laid-off
  • 100 axed at Caparo Hartlepool
  • 44 at Tata Steel with more 700 at risk
  • 700 contractors laid-off at Air Products Port Clarence
  • 1,300 staff affected by closure of six HMRC offices
  • 700 to go at Boulby Potash Mine

Peter Smith, ICL’s executive vice president for potash, said the decision was a painful one, but a necessary step to give the firm long-term success.

He added the first tranche of job losses will come in March next year, though contractors' leaving dates will vary. 

He told The Northern Echo: “We have encountered problems, which have affected previously high-yielding areas of the mine. 

“People in the past said there was a long-term future here because they knew there was mineral underground.

“But, when we got to it, we found there is nothing more to mine.

“We have physically come to the point where we have run out of potash producing material.

“There is no future in something if we haven’t got something to mine and produce, it’s as simple as that.

“We are acutely aware of the impact this will have on people because so many of them live and work in this district, and we have an empathy.

“But we got to the point where we had no choice; we cannot carry on losing money.

“We had to make some difficult decisions.

“Behind this bleak short-term outlook, we are about creating a future.

“That is not easy, but we don’t do this by accident and want people to realise there is a future.

“There is a viable future at the Boulby mine and that is based around polysulphate."

Earlier this year, The Northern Echo revealed ICL, known locally as Cleveland Potash, had started work on its £38m polyhalite processing plant, which it hopes will help it dominate the global fertiliser market.

The company hopes its polyhalite venture, which has been supported by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, will allow it to mine one million tonnes of the mineral a year by 2020, and up to four million tonnes annually thereafter.

Officials previously said studies showed there were more than one billion tonnes of polyhalite under its Boulby site.

Rival Sirius Minerals is moving closer to building its York Potash mine near Whitby, which it says could deliver 13 million tonnes of polyhalite a year, from an overall defined store of 2.66 billion tonnes.

However, Mr Smith said ICL wasn’t concerned about Sirius’ plans.

He added: “It takes time to sell this, but we have got a market that is developing because the product has particular credentials.

“It will have a unique place in the business.

“The marketplace will be whatever we create.

“My crystal ball is a bit foggy and I’m not here to make predictions, but we are a worldwide company here to create and market products people want.

“If they (Sirius) do build a mine and end up producing a mineral, we will be competitors.
“We’re unlikely to be anything else.”

Sirius has offered its sympathy for affected workers and said its offer for the two companies to work together remains on the table.

A spokesman said: "We are very sorry to hear of the job losses at Boulby and our thoughts are with the families affected. 

"We’re incredibly positive about the future prospects of the York Potash Project and polyhalite extraction in the area although of course that will not offer immediate consolation to those affected by this announcement.

“The decision to switch the mine to producing only polyhalite is further validation of the York Potash Project, which will extract between ten and twenty times the volume of polyhalite that ICL now proposes. 

"We have a longstanding offer to ICL to work in partnership for the benefit of both companies and employees alike and that remains open.” 

North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC), Chief Executive James Ramsbotham said: “The news of up to 1,400 further job losses in Teesside announced today is shattering. Nevertheless, there remain many great businesses in the area with huge assets in both people and resources that have the potential to deliver even more.

“Although the business community will do everything possible, together with Tees Valley Unlimited and others, to help those affected by the losses, now is the time for concerted action.  Government must make the economy in Teesside a priority and give it a similar focus to the approach adopted in Portsmouth, following the loss of Royal Navy Shipbuilding last year. 

"Now is the time when we need to commit to maximise the opportunities across Teesside.”

The job cuts come just a day after new figures showed the North-East was the only English region to see unemployment rise in the last quarter.

The area is also suffering from the collapse of Redcar's SSI UK works, which has delivered thousands of direct job losses and thousands more in the supply chain. 

Tom Blenkinsop, Labour MP for Middlesbrough South and east Cleveland, said: "My heart really goes out to our east Cleveland miners at Boulby.

"We must keep them and their families first and foremost.

"To be informed you may be losing your job is a devastating process to go through, and especially in the lead up to Christmas.

“There is never a good time to be given this news but we are fast approaching one of the most stressful parts of the year so I will be working with Unite and GMB trade unions.

“This news compounds the crisis industry on Teesside is facing.

"Thousands of jobs have been lost in the past couple of months and the Government needs to seriously reassess how it will stop this terminal decline.

"I will also be seeking an urgent question in this matter on Monday morning in the House of Commons.”

Sirius said it was sorry to hear ICL's announcement, adding its offer to work alongside each other still stands.

A spokesman added: “We are very sorry to hear of the job losses at Boulby mine and our thoughts are with the families affected.

"We’re incredibly positive about the future prospects of the York Potash Project and polyhalite extraction in the area although of course that will not offer immediate consolation to those affected by this announcement.

“The decision to switch the mine to producing only polyhalite is obviously a further validation of the York Potash Project, which will extract between ten and twenty times the volume of polyhalite that ICL UK now proposes.

“This announcement will come as a big surprise to many people as only two years ago the company was talking publicly about creating more than 270 jobs and securing the future of the mine for the next 40 years.

"We have a longstanding offer to ICL UK to work in partnership for the benefit of both companies and employees alike and that remains open.”