Steel summit looks to the future

Philippe Varin, Corus chief executive, will not be at the summit

The future of steel making on Teesside is under the spotlight at a special summit.

Union leaders, politicians, business experts, councils and support agencies will be present at the Redcar Bowl on Sunday.

But representatives from steel makers Corus - where 2,200 Teesside jobs hang in the balance - will not attend.

In April, the company announced it was cutting 1,150 UK jobs and said its Teesside plant would no longer produce steel for Corus.

If the Teesside operation fails to make a profit by selling its output on the international market, the plant will close.

Open discussion

Steve Dyson, editor of the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette, helped organise the summit.

He said it was time for Corus to sit up and take notice.

Mr Dyson said: "If you remember the 29 April statement that Corus made, it shocked everyone from the prime minister down.

"I don't think that people have been involved, that people have been consulted and that any real decisions have been made.

"I think now is the time to discuss this in the open so that everyone knows what is going on as far as they can... people need to know what the options are.

"Things are going to change with steel on Teesside, but they will only survive if people's passions for it is engaged with and that is what Corus have to consider very carefully."

Expected at the summit are Kevin Curran, general secretary of the GMB union; Michael Leahy, general secretary of the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation; Bob Shannon, national officer of the steel industry with Amicus.

MPs attending include Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland; Vera Baird, MP for Redcar.