Rotherham's Liberty Steel mill 'basically derelict', worker says
Mr Bradshaw, a team leader who started working in steel mills in 1985, said his current options were attending the melting shop where he was employed or staying at home for 80% of his salary."We've had short-time working since Covid," he said. "First it was the odd week, then the odd three weeks and since last July our furnaces haven't struck a light."On the days he goes to the melting shop, he said there was very little to do.
"There's painting and sweeping and I take myself on a walk around the plant, but it's basically derelict," Mr Bradshaw said. "There's nothing worse than a steel mill that's not working, it's like walking around a museum."From what it was, hard manual work, to now be pushing a brush around and being told to do some weeding – that's not what people got a job there for, it's a waste of skills."Liberty Speciality Steels avoided a winding up order last month after lawyers representing the firm said talks with a third-party purchaser had been taking place.A final decision was adjourned until 16 July to allow time for the sale of the company to go through.
A spokesperson for Liberty Steel said: "Even during extended periods of inactivity, we have continued to meet operating costs, pay wages, and sustain the business. "We will keep fighting to secure a long-term, sustainable future for Speciality Steel. "We are actively exploring every viable option protect the business as a going concern."Rotherham's Labour MP Sarah Champion described the situation as "absolutely unfathomable", adding: "Why is it that such a potentially profitable business isn't up and flourishing?"We hear snippets of information about Liberty, the workers are desperate and deserve information, but at the moment we're just in a fog." She added: "We've got a really good product, we know there's a market there. So why aren't we at full capacity right now?"Mr Bradshaw said he could choose to retire and start receiving his pension, but he believed the plant would reopen and wanted to be there when it did.
Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
North Wales Live
2 minutes ago
- North Wales Live
GCSE results day 2025: Grades, reaction, updates and pictures from across North Wales
The big day that thousands of teens across the country have been waiting for, is here again. After months of hard study - and weeks of waiting in anticipation - the all important GCSE results and grades are set to be revealed. School pupils across North Wales will be up early today (Thursday), wanting to see what is in those envelopes to decide the next steps in their lives. That could in higher education, embarking on an apprenticeship or their first tentative steps into the workplace. There was serious disruption to education during the Covid outbreak, but five years on and exams have returned to normal for the second year. This is a breaking news story. We will bring you all the latest as we get it via the live blog below. Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you. If you have some information you can contact us by following our Twitter feed @northwaleslive - the official North Wales Live account - real news in real time. Or like - your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the North Wales Live. Don't forget you can also keep up to date with the latest via the free North Wales Live app. Download it for Apple devices here and Android devices here.
The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
Hays profits tumble as recruiter flags sharp drop in permanent hiring
Global recruitment chain Hays has announced plunging profits as it said uncertainty about the economic and political environment was weighing on hiring activity. The company, which is one of Europe's biggest recruitment agencies, said conditions in the jobs market remained 'challenging'. Its net fees were £972.4 million for the year to the end of June, 11% lower than the previous year when compared like for like. This was largely driven by a sharp 17% drop in permanent hiring fees, with the volume of placements down by a fifth. This was weaker than the 7% decline for its temporary and contracting division, which it said was slightly more resilient. Pre-tax profits shrank by 90% year-on-year to £1.5 million. Its profit before exceptional items, which it deems to be one-off costs, tumbled by two thirds to £32.2 million. Hays previously warned investors that its annual profits were likely to fall short of expectations because of a lacklustre global jobs market and hiring weaknesses in Germany, its biggest market. German carmakers have faced particularly subdued activity amid the threat of higher US tariffs looming over the industry. Permanent hiring volumes dropped by a quarter across the region, with weak confidence weighing on employers and job seekers, Hays said. Hays has been making sweeping cutbacks in a bid to help mitigate the impact of the hiring slowdown. It said it had made £35 million worth of annual cost savings and it was targeting a further £45 million by 2029, which would bring the total to £80 million. As part of this, it has closed or merged 29 of its global offices in the past year, and cut the number of recruitment consultants it employs by 14%. This amounted to nearly 1,000 job reductions worldwide, including about 350 in the UK and Ireland. Hays said activity in July and August had not picked up and it was too early to say how September, a key trading month for the recruiter, would fare. Dirk Hahn, Hays chief executive, said: 'Market conditions remained challenging during the year, with economic and political uncertainty weighing on confidence, increasing 'time-to-hire' and reducing placement volumes. 'Despite making significant strategic and operational progress towards our long-term ambitions, our overall financial performance was impacted by these headwinds. 'Our strategy, targeting the most in-demand sectors, roles and geographies, building stronger client relationships and increasing exposure to temp and contracting recruitment, continues to develop.' Mr Hahn said the firm was in a position to grow its fees and profits 'when key markets recover'.
The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
Rachel Reeves considers cutting tax-free pension lump sum to raise billions
Rachel Reeves could consider cutting the amount savers are allowed to withdraw in a lump sum from their pension pots as she seeks to plug a multi-billion-pound hole in the public finances. The chancellor will look at proposals from civil servants that could raise around £2bn by lowering the limit on how much people are allowed to take out of their pension without paying tax. Currently, pensioners can take out a quarter of their pension pot tax-free, with a cap of £268,000. Lowering the level could bring in billions of pounds of additional tax revenue each year as the Treasury grapples with a black hole of as much as £50bn. The Treasury did not rule out lowering the cap on the tax-free pension lump sum, but an official told The Daily Telegraph it was 'unlikely'. But experts told the paper Ms Reeves may be forced to consider the move because of the huge sum she needs to find in this autumn's Budget. Leading economists have warned Ms Reeves that she must raise taxes or tear up her flagship borrowing rules to fill a £50bn black hole left by a combination of Labour U-turns, higher borrowing and sluggish economic growth. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) – a leading economic think tank – said the chancellor could also look at spending cuts in the Budget to plug a £41.2bn shortfall in the targets set out by her own so-called fiscal rules. To restore an almost £10bn buffer in the current forecasts, the chancellor must therefore raise a total of £51.1bn, it warned. Ms Reeves is also said to be considering hitting the owners of high-value properties with capital gains tax when they sell their homes as part of an attempt to make up the spending gap. The chancellor is said to be looking at ending the current exemption from capital gains tax for primary residences as she seeks ways to raise cash in the face of dire warnings about the state of the public finances – a move that would be seen as a 'mansion tax'. Speaking to The Telegraph, John Harvard, a consultant at tax firm Blick Rothenberg, said: 'Rachel Reeves has taken all her easy choices for increasing tax revenue off the table by sticking with her manifesto promises. But one option that remains open to her is targeting pension tax reliefs.' Pensions minister Torsten Bell has previously suggested slashing the tax-free lump sum limit to £40,000. The chancellor received a boost on Thursday, however, when government borrowing slowed to a lower-than-expected £1.1bn in July. The Office for National Statistics said the figure, which was £2.3bn less than the same month a year earlier, is the lowest July borrowing figure for three years. It came after a rise in self-assessed income tax and national insurance payments helped increase tax receipts for the month. July borrowing was lower than the £2bn figure predicted by a consensus of economists. Borrowing for the first four months of the financial year stood at £60bn - £6.7bn more than during the same period last year. ONS deputy director for public sector finances Rob Doody said: "Borrowing this July was £2.3bn down on the same month last year and was the lowest July figure for three years. "This reflects strong increases in tax and national insurance receipts. However, in the first four months of the financial year as a whole, borrowing was over £6bn higher than in the same period in 2024." Chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said: "We're investing in our public services and modernising the state, to improve outcomes and reduce costs in the medium term. "Far too much taxpayer money is spent on interest payments for the longstanding national debt. "That's why we're driving down government borrowing over the course of the parliament - so working people don't have to foot the bill and we can invest in better schools, hospitals and services for working families."
