Dr Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, visits INEOS’ Grangemouth site
- INEOS presents Grangemouth contribution to the UK economy, providing thousands of skilled jobs and vital products
- Minister meets with site employees, Modern Apprentices and Engineers of the Future
- INEOS highlights the need for a competitive regulatory environment and long-term strategy to secure the future of domestic energy-intensive industries over the next couple of decades
Vince Cable MP, UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, meets with INEOS’ Grangemouth apprentices.
Dr Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, today visited the INEOS petrochemical site at Grangemouth where he met with senior managers together with a cross section of INEOS staff, apprentices and Engineers of the Future.
“We were delighted to host this Ministerial visit to Grangemouth.“ said Calum MacLean, Chairman INEOS O&P Europe. “The visit provided us with the opportunity to share with Dr Cable the opportunities and challenges that face the Grangemouth Site. At a time when UK manufacturing businesses face many challenges, not least from emerging and developing UK legislation and competition from advantaged US feedstock and energy costs. It was important for us to take the time to explain to the Minister the potential, that our Grangemouth facility has, with the right support and investment, to continue to be a globally competitive producer of petrochemical and refined oil products.”
“Energy-intensive sites such as Grangemouth make a significant contribution to the UK, providing thousands of skilled jobs and producing vital raw materials that underpin the manufacturing sector and contribute to the transition to the green economy.” said MacLean. He adds, “UK electricity prices are already uncompetitive and the introduction of Carbon Price Support Rates and Phase III of the Emissions Trading System in 2013 will cause prices to increase drastically over the next decade. If steps are not taken to protect energy-intensive industries, their vital role in the UK economy will be under threat."
During the visit, Dr Cable was shown around the site’s Exhibition Centre by a group of INEOS Modern Apprentices and Engineers of the Future before visiting one of the site’s control rooms to meet with plant personnel and to see for himself some of the investment already being made into the Grangemouth site and the contribution being made.
INEOS welcomed the Government’s commitment to introducing mitigation to help secure this contribution, safeguarding jobs and preventing global emissions increasing through production moving to less-regulated countries. However the company confirmed its concern that the proposed compensation methodology is flawed and will mean that mitigation is ineffective. Gordon Grant, Works General Manager at INEOS, Grangemouth said, “We presented the Minister with a compelling view of the importance that sites like ours have to play in a recovering UK economy and how, through our many advanced products, we are essential in the transition to a low carbon future. Manufacturing in the UK is key to the future wellbeing of the country and it was significant that today the Minister took time out of his busy schedule to visit one of the largest manufacturing sites in the UK and meet with our trainees who will become future employees in the manufacturing industry.”