A boy lived his dream after visiting the Teesworks site with his dad to see what remains of the historic structure.
Albie, 4, who has been "obsessed" with the Redcar Blast Furnace at Teesworks, was able to fulfil his dream after getting a tour of the site on Thursday (April 13).
This comes after Albie's father, Paul Hutchinson, wrote to Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen to organise the trip.
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After organising the excursion with local demolition firm Thompsons of Prudhoe, Albie was welcomed to the site where he got the chance to see diggers being used in the demolition.
Speaking on this, Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said he was delighted to show Albie around before the remnants of the Blast Furnace.
He said: “It's incredible to see Albie spend the day on the Teesworks site with our demolition contractors Thompson’s of Prudhoe, who’ve had him on the diggers and shown him where the Blast Furnace once stood and the work they’re doing to clear the site.
"It’s clear to see just how quickly we’re moving on the Teesworks site to bring down old structures to welcome new investment and jobs of the future, so I’m over the moon to have been able to get Albie on site to see the Blast Furnace before it’s all gone.”
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Meanwhile, Albie has said he wishes to work on the site after he grows up.
Adding to this, a Tees Valley Mayor spokesperson said he might get his wish as "investors or firms continue to drive forward the thousands of clean energy and construction jobs."
Last month, Matthew Hart, SeAH Wind HR Manager, revealed the bulk of staff recruitment for the SeAH Wind development at Teesworks would accelerate towards the end of this calendar year, and into the early part of 2024, ready for production commencing in mid-2024.
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He said he expects this new development to contribute 300 jobs by mid-2024, and projects there will be 700 jobs created by 2026/27.
He said: “By mid-2024 we plan to have around 300 employees, and then circa 700 by 2026/7 depending on our order book, when we will look to add additional shifts.
“This means there won’t just be the initial 300 jobs, but as we grow there will be more positions and also many more jobs created in our supply chain.”
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