Overview

• At 3:05 p.m. on October 12, 2015, the official receiver announced the Redcar coke ovens would shut, ending 170 years of steelmaking on Teesside.
• The closure triggered thousands of job losses, with reports citing roughly 1,700–2,200 direct redundancies and estimates of about 4,000 including the supply chain, and a 2016 government report recorded 1,940 former SSI workers claiming jobseeker’s allowance.
• A high‑profile Save Our Steel campaign rallied residents and local institutions, including mass demonstrations and visible support from Middlesbrough FC fans.
• Following liquidation and protracted negotiations, the land was brought under local control through deals with Tata and SSI and a compulsory purchase process, clearing the way for Teesworks and a multi‑year demolition and remediation program.
• The site now hosts the UK’s largest freeport, including SeAH’s £950m offshore wind factory and the Steel River Quay, with construction on the Net Zero Teesside carbon capture project expected to begin, while Industry Minister Chris McDonald says the region can lead a new industrial era and pledges to keep pressing for answers over past worker deaths.