Institute boss is buoyed after a positive response from Labour leader during visit to Redcar
A MATERIALS processing chief has been encouraged by Ed Miliband's position on Teesside steelmaking after getting the chance to quiz the Labour leader in a Q&A session.
Mr Miliband was the key speaker at 'The People's Question Time' event which was staged at Redcar College on Friday.
The Labour supremo had been invited to Teesside by Anna Turley, prospective candidate for Redcar, and Materials Processing Institute Managing Director and CEO Chris McDonald was among the invited guests.
Mr McDonald opened the session with the first question, asking Mr Miliband how important he regarded the steelmaking cluster in Redcar, which includes his own Institute.
Mr McDonald said: "Ed decided to take my question first as he thought it the most important.
"I asked how he viewed the steelmaking sector in the area, including the Materials Processing Institute.
"He responded that it was very important locally and nationally and asked me what were the key priorities for the steel industry.
"I told him the industry needed: help with innovation, a level playing field on CO2 and fairness on energy pricing.
"Ed agreed with all of these points and stated that they would be addressed by a Labour government.
"I was delighted to get the opportunity to put my question forward, and was happy at what was a very positive response."
The Institute, which was first founded almost 70 years ago, evolved to become the research and development arm, firstly of British Steel and more recently Tata Steel, before returning to its independent status in November of last year.
Plans are well underway to turn the Materials Processing Institute into the UK's centre for industrial materials research and it has opened its doors to companies outside of the steel sector, to make use of its top class research and development facilities.
6 March 2015
