Member Article

Durham mining firm sell Hatfield Colliery business

Durham minerals firm, Hargreaves Servicles plc have sold their Hatfield Colliery Limited business and assets to an employee benefit trust.

The colliery, at Stainforth in South Yorkshire, played a starring role in the 1996 comedy Brassed Off, and will now be operated by Hatfield Colliery Partnership Limited.

Hargreaves has assisted in the restructure by, among other things, entering into a new contract with HCPL on substantially the same terms as the existing off-take contract, which had approximately one year left to run.

Hargreaves has also entered into a further off-take contract that extends into the second half of 2015.

A major landslide on the colliery’s spoil heap earlier this year caused problems with the Doncaster to Goole and Scunthorpe lines close by.

Gordon Banham, CEO of Hargreaves, commented: “It has been a very challenging period for Hatfield with the combination of the landslip and recent geological problems. Hatfield remains a major employer in the Doncaster area with over 400 direct employees.

“Significant efforts and progress have been made by all the stakeholders and employees at Hatfield to improve the efficiency of the operation.

“I would also like to acknowledge and applaud the role that ING Bank have played during the past two years. ING have remained supportive and their professionalism has been key in enabling this highly complex restructure to take place. Hargreaves understands the challenges of operating a deep mine and, whilst focussing on our successful surface mining assets, we will continue to assist the operation in any way we can.”

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