In rare good news this week, it has emerged that the huge steel manufacturer, Corus is hiring new staff at its two Speciality Steel factories in Yorkshire.

Some 154 people are to be recruited, barely a year after the Stocksbridge and Rotherham plants faced closure.

The positive news came despite the speciality steel division - which supplies advanced metals to high-end industries such as aerospace and oil and gas - seeing sales plummet by 75% during the worst of the recession.

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That collapse in orders, exaggerated by savage de-stocking, dragged Corus's overall sales down by 40%, left the group with monthly losses of over £100m.

Now, although the economic recovery in Corus's major UK and European markets remains fragile, demand is recovering faster in the high-end aerospace and automotive markets, coupled with a greater demand for specialist steel in emerging markets.

And the once-tottering Speciality Steel division needs 133 experienced workers, plus 14 apprentices and seven graduates, to help meet the rising demand.

(BMcC/GK)