COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

800 jobs are set to be axed at the UK’s biggest coal mine in Warwickshire.



UK Coal are starting a consultation today with workers at Daw Mill In Arley.

It would mean the site would close in 2014.

Bosses say the colliery is dragging down the rest of the company, which brought in a new management team at the end of 2010 after it lost £370m over three years.

The firm is a major supplier t0 Britain’s coal-fired power stations.

Andrew McIntosh, Head of Communications a the UK Coal, said a lack of planning at the past has meant it has become too expensive to extract the coal:

“The irony here is that Daw Mill is sitting on one of the best seams of coal in Europe and has got life into the 2020s.

“However, if it is not profitable, we will have to close it.”

Jeff Wood, President of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers said he was still hopeful conditions at the pit would improve:

“Unfortunately we’ve experienced some severe geological problems.

“There is a way forward over the next month, we have got the mine out of difficult conditions in the past, that is what we’ve got to focus on.”

Former miners’ union leader Arthur Scargill recently visited the Daw Mill site to urge workers at the pit to hold their ground and fight for their rights.

Last December UK Coal was ordered to pay £1.2m in fines and costs for safety breaches which led to the deaths of four men in four separate incidents in 2006 and 2007.

It is thought around two-thirds of the 800 workforce live in the Arley area.

Unions also claim thousands of jobs in the supply chain would be affected as well if the pit was to shut down.

UK Coal bought the English assets of British Coal for £815 million in 1994 when the state-owned business was privatised.

Daw Mill closure would mean 'depression' for the area



"I'll be very sad because I've seen what happens, it produces dejection and depression in the whole community."

Dr John Bland, a GP from Berkswell, has worked in the North Warwickshire area since 1960. He has treated coal miners and their families for 40 years and still runs surgeries in Nuneaton.

He said the possible closure of Arley's Daw Mill colliery, the UK's biggest deep coal mine, would be another massive blow for the community.

Dr Bland said: "The demographic has changed in recent decades, the bulk of the workers now live in the surrounding villages like Kingsbury, Whittaker, Polesworth and Dordon, rather than being concentrated in just one or two like Arley."

There were up to 15 collieries in north Warwickshire employing thousands of people in the late 19th Century.

Although it is no longer "a one occupation community", Dr Bland said the potential impact on jobs will be felt as strongly as when Arley pit was closed in 1968.

About 800 jobs are under threat if Daw Mill closes.

"The village went into the doldrums for about 10 years and there was an air of depression until the Queen's Jubilee in 1977.

"The colliery did a great deal for people, housing was provided as well as a doctor's surgery.

"As pits were winding down the young people were pushed out to villages further away and eventually the National Coal Board sold Arley to a developer."

John Burton, a North Warwickshire historian, said closing the pit is predictable.

He said: "It sounds fatalistic but it's almost an economic inevitability when they've exhausted the mines."

He said other extractive industry jobs like quarrying, particularly in Nuneaton, have nearly all gone.

"There were other jobs outside of the mining and industry but they were not that well paid and towards the end of the mining period the workers were all high earners.

"You could say Daw Mill is a sign of history repeating itself, like we saw during the Thatcher years."

Dr Bland said he would be "disappointed" if the colliery closed.

"I think we're going to need the coal and hope they mothball one otherwise it's going to be very expensive to open up again and the skills will all be gone.

"We're still sitting on a huge resources and perhaps need to find easier ways to extract it."

Talks to close Daw Mill ongoing despite UK Coal first profit in four years

Talks about closing Daw Mill Colliery near Coventry are “ongoing” – despite Britain’s biggest coal producer recording its first annual profit in four years yesterday.

UK Coal hailed its recovery plan as it reported pre-tax profits of £58 million for 2011, compared to a £124.6 million loss the previous year.

The South Yorkshire-based group, which operates three deep mines and six surface mines, employing 2,500, said it benefited from a 25 per cent rise in coal prices and a four per cent increase in production.

But UK Coal is still considering closing Daw Mill in north Warwickshire – currently one of the largest mines in the country, with 800 workers – by early 2014 when current coal panels will have been exhausted.

Shares in UK Coal jumped 13 per cent as the market opened yesterday.

But Louise Collinge, analyst at Investec, said the uncertainty around its restructuring plans overshadowed the good set of full-year results.

She said: “We advised that we were withdrawing our recommendation and target price for UK Coal, due to the uncertain outlook for the company. This remains the case.”

The group, which bought the English assets of British Coal in 1994 when the state-owned business was privatised, reported a 40 per cent surge in revenues to £488.2 million as it produced 7.5 million tonnes of coal, up from 7.2 million in 2010.

The performance was also helped by the increase in the average sales prices of coal. Its net debt was cut by 40% to £139 million.

Chairman Jonson Cox said: “This improved performance is in line with our recovery plan, with an increase in revenue from improved production, stock reductions and realised sales price, and initial steps in addressing our cost base.

“However, recent operational performance at Daw Mill, the near-doubling of our pension deficit and the level of debt in the mining business have continued to highlight how much remains to be done to put the UK Coal mining business on a stable footing.”

Daw Mill has been dogged by productivity problems in recent years, including a four-month gap in production which cost it £75 million two years ago.

UK Coal recently agreed a deal with unions which included a two-year pay freeze and a new shift system.

But with production having failed to hit targets, UK Coal announced that it would carry out a review over the mine’s future.

It said it wants to ensure that financial uncertainty at Daw Mill does not impact on the rest of its business.

200 jobs to be axed to save Daw Mill Colliery



ABOUT 200 jobs face the axe in a bid to help stave off the closure of Daw Mill Colliery, it was revealed today.

New savings at Daw Mill at New Arley, north Warwickshire, demanded by owners UK Coal include moves to cut the workforce from 700 to about 500 by September.

The latest cutbacks were announced as the Union of Democratic Mineworkers revealed that Daw Mill miners had met their initial target to double production by the end of April.

Workers at the colliery, the West Midlands’ last remaining colliery, were rocked in February when UK Coal revealed the mine would close by 2014 if an emergency rescue plan failed.

UDM area secretary Tom Gay said: “The situation now is that the mine is producing coal up to a level of 45,000 tonnes a week.

"We are up to the projected tonnage and, at that rate, we should be able to extend the life of the face.

“They are now looking to make 100 to 120 men redundant by the third quarter of this year and, in addition, they have got rid of about 80 contractors.

"If they reduce manpower by 200 people, they will get their costs down.

“Our view is that, as long as it is done on a voluntary basis, we would not oppose that.

"If redundancies save our pit, then we are not going to argue with that.

“If they can get to 1.7 million tonnes a year, Daw Mill can remain viable for some time to come.”

Mr Gay said a continuation of production was vital at Daw Mill to prevent a repeat of the four-month production gap in 2010 which led to losses of £75 million for UK Coal.

“The whole cycle has to be looked at rather than just taking coal out of the pit.

"They want to see a continuation of production, which is what the power stations want.”

UK Coal are seeking to reduce annual costs at Daw Mill by millions of pounds and one suggestion is to allocate miners who commute from Nottinghamshire to the West Midlands jobs at Thoresby Colliery, near Mansfield.

Daw Mill is the largest coal-producing mine in the UK, and one of just five deep pits remaining.