The Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, will sign up to the UK steel charter, in a historic move to promote UK-made steel in the region and support the economy.
The first metro Mayor in the UK to sign the charter, Mayor Street today (Wednesday 6 June) said there were “lots of opportunities” for West Midlands-based firms to purchase domestic steel and has called for firms to commit themselves “wherever possible” to UK steel jobs.
The Mayor will visit and open the first production line at a new refurbished steel manufacturer in Oldbury, to put a spotlight on West Midlands made steel.
It comes after the Metro Midland Alliance, the organisation designing and delivering new Metro schemes on behalf of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), confirmed an order of 860 tonnes of UK-made steel has been placed to use in the expansion of the Metro line between Wednesbury and Brierley Hill.
The Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension will boost public transport in the Black Country. The Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension will be delivered in two phases with the first to Dudley town centre with the second phase will see the route further extended to Brierley Hill. The first phase of the route will add nine stops to the local metro network linking people in Dudley to both Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
Colleagues from the Midland Metro Alliance recently visited British Steel’s manufacturing facilities in Scunthorpe to review and approve the manufacturing processes and product quality for the more than 21,000 metres (or nearly 850 tonnes) of 39E1 flat bottom which have been successfully manufactured and delivered to the project.
Safe storage and handling of such a huge quantity of rail is a challenge, but working in partnership, British Steel and the Midland Metro Alliance has identified and agreed suitable locations through joint site visits. All rails were delivered during summer 2023 ready to be used on the largest light rail scheme currently underway in the UK.
Ahead of signing the charter, The Mayor, who is also Chair of the WMCA, said: “By signing the UK Steel Charter, we’re signalling our commitment to back British steel supporting well paid and highly skilled manufacturing jobs and training opportunities that will benefit local people right across our region. This initiative can help to increase the amount of high quality steel manufactured in Britain and increase the supply of British made steel contributing to key West Midlands projects. I very much hope our decision will encourage others to follow suit – impacting positively on the supply chain, our region and indeed the wider UK economy in the months and years ahead.
The Steel Charter, first set up in 2019, supports the UK steel industry in its efforts to change the way it procures steel to include more domestic products. The Charter encourages signatories – government administrations, local authorities, and private sector – to publicly signal their commitment to using UK steel in major projects.
UK steelmakers could supply industries such as energy, transport, and construction, with steel worth up to £3.8 billion a year by 2030. The UK’s steel sector employs 39,800 people directly and supports a further 50,000 in supply chains. It comes as government data for 2022-23 shows of the total £603 million spent on steel in the past year, £365 million was UK-produced. The West Midlands has a strong industrial heritage, with the region is home to at least 15 sites manufacturing, processing and handling steel.