As a result of this review the decision has been taken to reduce employment levels at each of Corus Tubes’ principal establishments in the UK and the Netherlands.  A total of 146 jobs will be at risk: 56 at Corby, 49 at Hartlepool and 41 in the Netherlands.

Nick Clarke, Acting Managing Director of Corus Tubes, commented: “It is regrettable that we need to propose redundancies.  However, we need to make these changes in order to strengthen our business and address the challenging market conditions we face.”

He went on to say: “Our priority is to keep all our employees up to date with the changes and help them, and their families, through this difficult time.”

On November 28 the Business Unit started the process of consultation with its employees and their Trade Union representatives.  Corus Tubes is committed to trying to find ways to limit the redundancies and reduce their potential consequences.

END

NOTE TO EDITORS:
For more information, please contact Bob Jones on 0207 717 4532

This announcement only applies to the Corus Tubes Business Unit of Corus.

Information about Corus and Corus Tubes
Corus Tubes is a Business Unit of Corus.  It manufactures steel tubes in the UK and Netherlands for many different applications, such as construction, automotive, mechanical engineering and building services.  Corus Tubes employs 2,200 people at its locations throughout the UK and the Netherlands.

Corus is Europe's second largest steel producer with annual revenues of more than £12 billion and crude steel production of about 20 million tonnes.  With main steelmaking operations primarily in the UK and the Netherlands, Corus provides innovative solutions to the construction, automotive, packaging, mechanical engineering and other markets worldwide.  Corus is a subsidiary of Tata Steel, a global top ten steel producer.  Following the acquisition of Corus last year, the combined enterprise has an aggregate crude steel capacity of more than 28 million tonnes and approximately 82,700 employees across four continents.