Member Article

Former Rio Tinto smelter opens for business

The empty Rio Tinto aluminium smelter in Northumberland now has its first new tenant.

Following the Lynemouth plant’s demise at the end of 2011, concrete bathroom manufacturer Aartoft Limited has chosen to relocate to the former Rio Tinto Alcan plant.

The move is part of expansion plans for Aartoft as it hopes to double the size of its workforce, currently 25.

The firm will move into 18,000 sq ft of space that was previously used as the smelter’s garage.

John McCabe, regional economic development director for Rio Tinto, said: “We are delighted to welcome Aartoft to Lynemouth. It is a local company that has worked on some great contracts in the past and, while the construction sector is not without its problems, its management team is very focused and sees the advantages of being based at our site.

“The ultimate aim of the RED programme is to attract new investment and jobs to this site. This may involve several businesses taking over some of our buildings or land and using them for different purposes.

“It is essential we attract the right kind of investment to the site. We will scrutinise very carefully the expressions of interest we receive because we want to ensure our place is taken at Lynemouth by a business or businesses that share our values and our commitment to the local economic community.”

Niels Sandahl, managing director of Aartoft, said: “This is an outstanding location and we are delighted to be the first tenant. It is a secure, controlled environment, with great facilities and transport links. What is of real added value to a small company such as ours is that the whole site benefits from the culture that only a multinational company such as Rio Tinto can bring.

“For example, health and safety is the number one priority and you can tell that staff awareness in this area is extremely high.

“On a more practical level, we benefit from the fact that there are already cranes on site which will prove invaluable when it comes to moving ready mixed concrete as part of our manufacturing process.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .