Following yesterday's announcement by Anglesey Aluminium of the preferred bidder for the final parcel of their land in Holyhead, we now know that the Penrhos site, which shed 450 jobs in 2009 when the Aluminium smelter closed, will soon provide for well over double that number of jobs.
This did not happen by accident. The credit for it lies not with the various politicians now queuing up to claim some of the kudos, but with Anglesey Aluminium's Works Director, Brian King. He persuaded the Rio Tinto Board not to take the easy option of a quick land sale to developers and instead resolved to only sell the site on to companies with concerete business plans to create sustainable jobs.
So just two years on from when Anglesey Aluminium was forced to close, we now know that the site will soon provide work for over 1,000 people. This is a far better 'legacy' for Ynys Môn than Anglesey Labour Party's shortsighted demands that the site be gifted to the Island like the old Shell works at Rhosgoch — a site which incidentally still lies empty more than 20 years later.
So hats off to Brian King for his vision and resolve to do the right thing by both Holyhead and Ynys Môn.
8 comments:
Welcome back, hope you had a nice break, and that all is well with our wife's family in Japan.
I agree with you on this post, we need to thank the hard work of Bill King.
Good on Brian King vision .Now there might be work for some of us who had to travel overseas to find work.
Nice to have you back
Yes, indeed; welcome back, though I had no idea you'd been to Japan. Lucky you.
Yes, credit to Mr King, although I will add that while I certainly hope we have 1,000 jobs here in two years time, there are no guarantees.
We have been given grand job predictions at various sites on the island before that have never materialised. So let's wait and see, and hope.
This 1,000 jobs. Arethese the permanent jobs once built or do they include construction jobs most of which are sub-contracted to outside firms and only last a matter of months anyway.
Red Flag:
Only time will tell, but this is what Richard Sidi of Land and Lakes said, which implies the 'equivalent' of 600 *permanent* jobs:
"Richard Sidi, Chief Executive of Land and Lakes, said they hoped to create a world-class holiday resort on the site, employing up to 600 members of staff:
“The Penrhos Leisure Resort will provide significant employment for the area with an estimate of up to 600 full time equivalent jobs being created for the long term.”
http://itvwalesblog.com/2011/05/16/anglesey-aluminium-site-leisure-park-to-create-up-to-600-jobs/
Plus, the Lateral Energy proposals state specifically 400 permanent jobs.
Lets keep our fingers crossed.
"Richard Sidi, Chief Executive of Land and Lakes, said they hoped to create a world-class holiday resort on the site, employing up to 600 members of staff
That is more than the workforce of Presthaven Sands and Hafan Y Mor combined, most of which are part time seasonal.
Welcome back Druid. Hope to have your input and reports from the various IoACC public meetings. Such as this Thursday evening in Menai Bridge.
Hope to see some other bloggers at these meetings too.
Post a Comment