Cleveland Bridge: Production resumes as buyer sought

Cleveland Bridge has been involved in many high-profile projects across the decades

Production at a County Durham steel firm is due to restart as new buyers for the company are sought.

Cleveland Bridge has helped build structures all over the world including Wembley Stadium's arch, London's Shard and Dubai International Airport, but recently went into administration.

Some of the 200 staff at the Darlington site will return to work, while the remainder will stay furloughed.

A local MP described the move as a "step in the right direction".

It follows a meeting between the joint administrators, union representatives and the leader of Darlington Council.

The site straddles the Darlington and Sedgefield constituencies, and the meeting was also attended by Darlington MP Peter Gibson and fellow conservatives Sedgefield MP Paul Howell and Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen.

A joint statement said the business had been "marketed for sale" and administrators had opened discussions with interested parties.

'Pulled together'

It added: "After discussions with clients regarding support for live projects, the administrators intend to restart production within week commencing 2 August.

"Staff required to fulfil the production requirements will be contacted, while the remaining staff will likely continue to be furloughed."

Sedgefield MP Paul Howell described it as a "step in the right direction".

He said: "Whenever a company is in administration things can go either way, but one of the positive points in this is the way the staff and the workforce has pulled together.

"They are a critical part of the administrator getting any sale, which gives the situation hope."