Looking back on 2012 – a year of contrasts

IT takes a lot to make steel workers cry. There was anger and dismay two years ago when Teesside Cast Products blast furnace in Redcar was mothballed.

Few people thought it would return.

Among the hardcore who never gave up the fight to bring iron and steel making back to Teesside was Geoff Waterfield, chairman of the multi-union committee who became known as “The Man of Steel” for heading the campaign to revive the works.

He led marches calling for the plant to be saved, which were seen thousands of miles away in Thailand by Win Viriyaprapaikit, president of Thai steel firm SSI.

Mr Waterfield was also part of the delegation that travelled to Bangkok in May 2010 to put the region’s case to Mr Viriyaprapaikit.

In August 2011, Mr Waterfield died aged only 43, but his efforts were not in vain.

In April, after SSI had agreed to buy the works from Corus, Mr Waterfield’s son Wills was handed the honour of relighting the blast furnace.

The youngster said he could feel his father looking down on him as he officially re-opened the plant that now employs 1,800. Workers cried and cheered and did the same a week later when the first slab of steel rolled off the production line.

For the rest of the year SSI battled for survival as steel prices collapsed and raw material costs soared.

Deal of the year - Train building returns to Durham

THE bid to bring train building back to the cradle of the rail industry sounded like a pipe dream when it was first mooted in 2005.

Thanks to the vision of developer Merchant Place Developments and the determined efforts of the likes of Phil Wilson MP, Business Durham boss Stewart Watkins, council and union leaders, the next generation of high-speed trains will be made at Newton Aycliffe from 2015.

In July, the £4.5m deal was penned for the Hitachi-led Agility Trains project.

Building work will start in the new year on a factory that will employ 730 skilled workers – hundreds more than had been planned originally – with a further 200 construction workers needed to build a nearby test track and the plant itself.

Developers hope the site can also host a supplier village and logistics companies.

Gaffe of the year - Pasty tax

THE 2012 Budget was George Osborne’s biggest attempt yet to inject growth into the economy. Instead it will be remembered for embarrassing U-turns the Chancellor was forced to make following a series of half-baked plans.

A proposed 20 per cent VAT on warm savouries such as sausage rolls, Cornish pasties and steak bakes, prompted angry bakers to march on Parliament.

Mr Osborne, ppictured, who admitted that he was one of the few Britons never to have shopped in North- East bakers Greggs, scrapped his plans amid accusations he was out of touch with voters.

Blow of the year - Government rejects airport cash bid

IN the spring, optimism was high at Durham Tees Valley Airport as KLM reaffirmed its commitment to run three daily flights to Amsterdam.

In June, Peel Holdings lodged a bold bid for £5.9m from the Government’s enterprise fund to build a massive freight operation on land south of the passenger terminal. The scheme would create 1,500 jobs, Peel said.

Airport bosses were left stunned when The Northern Echo revealed that the bid had failed and MPs demanded the Business Secretary explain to Parliament why the Government had turned its back on a key North-East transport hub and why the bid had been rejected.

Peel said it was determined to revive the scheme next year.

Family of the year - Ebac

DEHUMIDIFIER and water cooler manufacturer Ebac this year made the first step towards make the firm’s vision of becoming the only UK firm to make washing machines.

The innovative diversification idea, dreamed up by managing director Pamela Petty seven years ago, secured a £1m grant from the Regional Growth Fund, enabling the firm to go about raising the rest of the finance for the £7m project, which could create 200 jobs.

The company, which employs 186 people at its Newton Aycliffe plant, was turned down in Round Two of the Government enterprise scheme, but reapplied in Round Three, proving perseverance pays.

The project, which Ebac says would be impossible without enterprise funding, could see the firm produce up to 100,000 washing machines and the same number of fridge-freezers a year.

The UK imports about four million washing machines a year.

The firm, founded by Mrs Petty’s father John Elliott in 1973, also hit the headlines in April, when multi-millionaire Mr Elliott, who was Channel 4’s first Secret Millionaire, announced he was putting the firm into a community trust, rather than passing it on to his daughters, who both work in the business, to protect employees’ jobs in the future.

Discovery of the year - York Potash

MINING firm York Potash announced plans to create up to 5,000 jobs by extracting polyhalite from what is thought to be the world’s largest and best-quality seam far beneath the North York Moors. If successful, the company will unlock billions of tonnes of the valuable mineral, which can be used to make fertilizer component potash, which would generate wealth for the region and enable the UK to become selfsufficient in this important resource.

As the mine is located in a National Park, the company has hurdles to overcome if the vision is to become a reality, but has already come up with a high-tech, purpose-made design to vastly minimise the visual impact of the mine on the surrounding area.

If the company is successful, the facility could be up and running within four years, providing a much-needed boost to the region’s economy.

Biggest vote of confidence from overseas - Nissan and Nifco

TWO Japanese car companies renewed their investments in the region this year after seeing business go from strength to strength.

Nifco UK opened a £8.5m factory in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton, which will supply components for almost every UK-made car on the road, relocating from its Stockton plant to fulfil new contracts with Honda, Nissan and Jaguar Landrover, as well as diversify into the electric vehicle components market. The expansion saw Nifco UK up its staffing levels by almost 150, to 300, after securing £1.65m from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund. The firm also secured a second Regional Growth Fund investment of £1.92m to build the factory and establish an innovation division, creating 150 jobs.

Farther north, Nissan helped to drive a manufacturing recovery with overseas demand for its vehicles, announcing record production levels of 500,000 vehicles, largely due to the popularity of the Nissan Qashqai and the new Nissan Juke.

And the expansion looks set to carry on into next year, with the firm also recruiting 200 staff, taking its workforce to 5,100, in preparation for the busiest period in its 26 year history.

The firm won deals to manufacture four new models – the electric Leaf, a new generation Qashqai, a new car based on the Invitation concept, and a new hatchback.

Undoubtedly, the Sunderland plant, which exported 81 per cent of what it made, has helped the North-East to hit record export figures and lift its balance of payments into the black, contributing more than £5bn to the region’s total overseas sales of £14.125bn.