Sacked workers in buy-out plan

Funding may be in place for the buy-out by Christmas

Former steelworkers are close to buying the County Durham plant from which they lost their jobs.

The group, led by former managing director Bill Cooper, is hoping to secure funding from bankers.

More than 80 workers at Weardale Steel were told in October that the company had run out of money, just 44 days after being taken over by Midlands-based Eastwood Industries.

Mr Cooper said he has the support of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and local business leaders.

We are very confident we can restart production at the steel works with a management led workers' team

Bill Cooper
Former MD

DTI officials are currently looking into the circumstances surrounding the take-over of Weardale Steel.

Mr Cooper said: "We have a lot of faith in the business plan we have put together.

"There is still a future for Weardale Steel and the staff who worked there for many years."

The last item produced at the 140-year-old plant, before administrators moved in, was a giant bust of film director Alfred Hitchcock.

Mr Cooper added: "We are very confident we can restart production at the steel works with a management led workers' team."

Dormant company

The company fell into administration after initially assuring the workforce - who made the Angel of the North and the Gateshead Millennium Bridge - that jobs were safe.

Government Chief Whip and local MP Hilary Armstrong has said the circumstances of the take-over and closure need to be closely examined.

Eastwood Industries was registered as a dormant company with just £1 to its name and the DTI has decided to investigate the circumstances of the take-over.