Plans for a £26 million upgrade of British Steel’s Special Profiles business in the North East have been submitted for approval.
The proposals for the Skinningrove site, which were first revealed in August, will see cut-to-length lines, product milling, machining and warehousing operations added.
It will allow the Scunthorpe-headquartered business to make and process an extended range of value-added products for the forklift industry.
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As reported, work is being moved from Darlington in what is a huge investment in the division by the Jingye Group company.
David Hogg, Special Profiles plant manager, said: “These plans represent the biggest single investment in our Special Profiles business for more than 30 years and will ensure we remain a leading global manufacturer.
“If our plans are approved, we hope to start building works later this year with commissioning expected to start in August 2023.”
The business makes components for a wide range of sectors including the forklift and earthmoving industries.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council will decide, with widespread support from British Steel’s customers noted.
David Waine, British Steel’s commercial director for Special Profiles, said: “Since we announced the investment we have had nothing but positive feedback from current and prospective new customers.
“The plans will enable us to manufacture world-class products to the tightest of tolerances. They will also enable us to explore new growth opportunities for although our primary product offering would be for forklift mast production, we expect to be able to expand this to include other product applications too.”
The designs have been produced by Sunderland architects Building Design Northern.
Richard Marsden, managing director, said: “The continued investment by British Steel into Skinningrove will provide a huge boost to the Tees Valley’s historic steel industry and we are delighted to be working closely with the company to help bring this exciting project to life.”
All employees based at Darlington will be offered new roles. The investment follows the installation of a £2 million world-leading surface descaling system, a high-tech product processing centre and a unique robotic identification tracking control for each profile manufactured at the Skinningrove mill.
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