£4m lifeline for colliery
HATFIELD Colliery in South Yorkshire has secured a £4m loan from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), safeguarding its immediate future.
The NUM said the cash injection will provide important bridging funds for the employee owned pit to start mining the next coalface within weeks.
Around 500 jobs have been secured through the commercial loan, which will be repaid within a year.
John Grogan, chairman of Hatfield Employee Benefit Trust, said: “I am delighted that the National Union of Mineworkers have stepped up to the mark and joined our other commercial partner Hargreaves who have provided valuable support to the mine over the last year. The NUM ‘s decision to provide us with a loan is a vote of confidence in the mine and particularly the nearly 500 people who earn their living here.”
Hatfield said it intends to negotiate new contracts with the major coal fired power generators this autumn, including Drax near Selby, EDF, EON and Scottish & Southern, which operates Ferrybridge power station in West Yorkshire.
Mr Grogan said: “The granting of the loan by the National Union of Mineworkers has given us time to make the case to the generators and to Government that the last deep coal mine in the country not to announce its closure deserves a future.
“We owe it to all those who have gone before us not to go quietly into the good night.”
The NUM said the decision to make the investment “was not one that taken lightly” but said it reinforces its commitment to the deep coal mining industry in the UK.
Coal was first mined at Hatfield Colliery in 1917 and was used to film scenes for ‘Brassed Off’.
