Latest news with #Prax
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Oil refinery workers 'devastated' over closure
More than a hundred people have gathered at a protest demanding the government take more action to save the Lindsey Oil Refinery from closure. The demonstration outside Grimsby Town Hall comes after Energy Minister Michael Shanks announced the plant near Immingham, in North East Lincolnshire, was to shut because a buyer could not be found. The Official Receiver took over the site last month after its owner, Prax, went into administration, putting 420 jobs at risk. Shane Tomlinson, 45, has worked the refinery for 20 years and said: "It's devastating for everyone". "Where is the work in Grimsby and Cleethorpes for people like this," he said. "There isn't any." His views were echoed by his colleague Greg Codling. "All the young lads have got mortgages, they've all got young children," he said. "There's going to be a lot of people all at once looking for the jobs that are not there." Simone Barker, whose dad works at the refinery, attended the demonstration with her son. She said: "It's his future, it's his brother's future, it's all the children [who are] leaving school, it's not right." Employee Pete Spencer, 52, said: "It's going to have a massive effect on the area. "I've been there 22 years. I've been a good servant, loyal servant to the place and it's going to hit everybody in this town hard all across the board. So it's a massive loss to the town, a massive loss to the area." Harriet Eisner, from Unite union, said: "They [employees at Lindsey Oil Refinery] shouldn't be made redundant, that place is viable. "It's not just the people directly employed by Lindsey Oil Refinery it's the contractors, all the people in the supply chain the local businesses who rely on their patronage. It's going to be devastating." "The government need to work a lot harder in getting a business to take over Lindsey Oil Refinery so there is a future for the people in this community". Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: "The government will immediately fund a comprehensive Training Guarantee for these refinery workers to ensure they have the skills they need and are supported to find jobs in the growing clean energy workforce." Lindsey is the smallest of the UK's oil refineries, according to the government. It is located next to the larger Phillips 66 Humber refinery, which continues to operate. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices More on this story Calls for government to save refinery from closure Oil refinery to shut after no buyer found Oil refinery owners urged to support workers Government supporting refinery as 420 jobs at risk Related internet links Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Solve the daily Crossword
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Lindsey Oil Refinery workers 'devastated' over closure
More than a hundred people have gathered at a protest demanding the government take more action to save the Lindsey Oil Refinery from demonstration outside Grimsby Town Hall comes after Energy Minister Michael Shanks announced the plant near Immingham, in North East Lincolnshire, was to shut because a buyer could not be Official Receiver took over the site last month after its owner, Prax, went into administration, putting 420 jobs at Tomlinson, 45, has worked the refinery for 20 years and said: "It's devastating for everyone". "Where is the work in Grimsby and Cleethorpes for people like this," he said."There isn't any."His views were echoed by his colleague Greg Codling."All the young lads have got mortgages, they've all got young children," he said. "There's going to be a lot of people all at once looking for the jobs that are not there." Simone Barker, whose dad works at the refinery, attended the demonstration with her son. She said: "It's his future, it's his brother's future, it's all the children [who are] leaving school, it's not right." Employee Pete Spencer, 52, said: "It's going to have a massive effect on the area."I've been there 22 years. I've been a good servant, loyal servant to the place and it's going to hit everybody in this town hard all across the board. So it's a massive loss to the town, a massive loss to the area." Harriet Eisner, from Unite union, said: "They [employees at Lindsey Oil Refinery] shouldn't be made redundant, that place is viable."It's not just the people directly employed by Lindsey Oil Refinery it's the contractors, all the people in the supply chain the local businesses who rely on their patronage. It's going to be devastating.""The government need to work a lot harder in getting a business to take over Lindsey Oil Refinery so there is a future for the people in this community".Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: "The government will immediately fund a comprehensive Training Guarantee for these refinery workers to ensure they have the skills they need and are supported to find jobs in the growing clean energy workforce."Lindsey is the smallest of the UK's oil refineries, according to the is located next to the larger Phillips 66 Humber refinery, which continues to operate. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
Daily Mail
22-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Lindsey oil plant set to close with loss of 400 jobs leaving UK with just four major refineries
One of Britain's last remaining major oil refineries is closing after no buyers were found. The Lindsey Oil Refinery in North East Lincolnshire will shut in the coming weeks after owner Prax crashed into administration last month. The closure of the plant on the banks of the River Humber will cost more than 400 jobs and leave Britain with just four major refineries. Energy Minister Michael Shanks said the firm was left in an 'untenable' position by Prax owners, husband and wife Sanjeev and Arani Soosaipillai. Shanks said yesterday: 'We are deeply disappointed with the untenable position in which the owners left Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery. 'Our sympathies are with the workers, their families and the local community. The Government will immediately fund a comprehensive Training Guarantee for these refinery workers to ensure they have the skills they need and are supported to find jobs in the growing clean energy workforce.'
BBC News
22-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Calls for government to save Lincolnshire's Lindsey Oil Refinery
Unions and political parties have called on the government to intervene and keep the Lindsey Oil Refinery Minister Michael Shanks announced the plant in North East Lincolnshire was to shut after the government said it was unable to find a buyer for Official Receiver took over the site in Immingham last month after its owner, Prax, went into administration, putting 420 jobs at the Union general secretary Sharon Graham said: "The government can't sit on the sidelines any longer." She added: "The Lindsey refinery is critical national infrastructure and is essential for the UK's fuel supply and the health of the regional economy."The government needs to reverse the premature decision to stop buying crude oil and to extend the time to find a viable long-term solution for the site."Ms Graham's views were echoed by Reform UK, which said it was "shocked that after just three weeks, the Government has given up on the Lindsey Oil Refinery".A statement, co-signed by Greater Lincolnshire mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns and the leader of Lincolnshire County Council Sean Matthews, said the party believed "a different course of action is essential"."We understand from our sources that the refinery can be profitable with the right management and ownership structure," the statement said."The Government should be looking at joint venture structures, such as the site being publicly owned and bringing in top operating expertise in a public private profit share arrangement." Unite previously said the closure of the Immingham refinery could affect up to 1,000 jobs when taking into account contractors and the supply a written statement in the House of Commons earlier, Shanks said: "The Official Receiver has rigorously assessed all the bids received and concluded that sale of the business as a whole is not a credible option."Having visited some of the workers on site on 17 July, I know this will be hugely disappointing news for them, their families and the local community."A package has been offered to all those directly employed at the refinery, which guarantees jobs and pay over the coming months."He added that the Official Receiver was exploring various proposals for assets."I therefore remain hopeful that a solution will be found that creates future employment opportunities at the Immingham site," he said. Analysis Prax is living on borrowed government is talking about timetables for closing its various oil processing will stop at the end of this month with fuels and oils being sold in the weeks that follow - until they run are calling on the owners of the site to, in their words, "do the right thing" and offer financial support to the hundreds who are losing their Government is asking the insolvency service to investigate how the financial health of Prax was allowed to decline so trade unions are continuing to call for government intervention to keep the plant operational in the long that level of support is looking unlikely. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices.
Telegraph
22-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Oil refinery to shut after runaway owners leave it in ‘untenable' position
A major British oil refinery is to shut after being left in an 'untenable' position by its runaway millionaire owners. Lindsey refinery, near Grimsby in Lincolnshire, is to be wound down after the Official Receiver was unable to find a suitable buyer. Workers have been told that redundancies are now 'inevitable'. Around 625 jobs will be lost from Prax and its parent company, State Oil. The future of the plant was thrown into doubt last month when it fell into administration and its owners vanished. Officials have been unable to trace the whereabouts of Sanjeev Soosaipillai or his wife, Arani Soosaipillai, who jointly owned the business until its collapse. Michael Shanks, the energy minister, said on Monday: 'We are deeply disappointed with the untenable position in which the owners left Prax Lindsey oil refinery.' He added that ministers 'strongly encourage the owners to do the decent thing and publicly commit to making a voluntary financial contribution to support workers'. The Soosaipillais paid themselves a £3.7m dividend in the year before the collapse, despite the company incurring $30m (£22m) of losses. Prax, which bought the refinery from French energy giant Total four years ago, owed £250m in taxes to HM Revenue & Customs when it became insolvent. Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, has demanded a full investigation into the collapse of Prax and the actions of its directors. The Lindsey refinery was responsible for supplying 10pc of British fuel, including some propellant bound for Heathrow Airport. Local petrol stations in the Lincolnshire area that rely on the Lindsey plant have been struggling to source alternative fuel, leaving some forecourts dry, the Telegraph has reported. Heathrow is understood to be unaffected. The refinery's collapse came months after Scotland's only oil refinery, Grangemouth, stopped processing crude oil amid surging energy costs and fears that a Labour crackdown on the North Sea would make it unviable. Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said: 'The Lindsey refinery is critical national infrastructure and is essential for the UK's fuel supply and the health of the regional economy. 'The Government needs to reverse the premature decision to stop buying crude oil and to extend the time to find a viable long-term solution for the site. 'Over a thousand workers rely on the future of the oil refinery, their jobs are now at immediate risk, through no fault of their own. If the Government fails to act then workers at Lindsey and much further afield will rightly, feel abandoned by it.'
