The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon George Osborne MP, visited a fabrication yard in North East England which is creating 200 new jobs – part of 4,000 expected across the country - building offshore platforms for the major Cygnus gas project. The project was made possible in part by the Government’s decision to offer a tax allowance for large shallow water gas fields.

The Hartlepool yard, run by Heerema Fabrication Group, is one of the first to benefit from the recent announcement by GDF SUEZ, operator, and partners Centrica and Bayerngas to sanction the £1.4 billion Cygnus project.

The Chancellor met with teams currently working at the Hartlepool site to understand more about the work that would be involved. He also discussed the next phases of the Cygnus project with Senior Partnership Management on this inaugural visit to the yard.

Tags: Heerema Fabrication Group