Teesworks: Timeline of events at the former Redcar steelworks

When Conservative Ben Houchen was elected as first Tees Valley mayor in May 2017, he began negotiations with the Thai banks over the steelworks site’s future, and in August formed STDC - the first development corporation to be created outside London - to progress with a 25 year plan for the site’s future.

Indian-owned Tata retained ownership of around 1,400 acres of land near the SSI site, and sold it to STDC for £11.5m in January 2019. The following month Lord Houchen announced his intention to buy the remaining 870 acres of land owned by the Thai banks via compulsory purchase order (CPO).

April 2019: Compulsory purchase initiated

The adjacent Redcar Bulk Terminal (RBT), used for importing coal and coke for the steelworks, but by now adrift as a business with its main customer closed, was in the process of signing lease options with potential tenants on parcels of land it held.

One of these option agreements was for 70 acres acquired by local property developers Chris Musgrave and Martin Corney in November 2019. The following month they set up a company named South Tees Enterprises Limited - the entity which would become Teesworks Ltd.

Lord Houchen has touted Corney and Musgrave’s acquisition of this land as the impetus which “unlocked” the CPO proceedings and allowed STDC to continue its redevelopment plans.

An agreement was reached on the sale of SSI’s land to STDC around February 2020, roughly the same time the joint venture agreement was signed between STDC and Corney and Musgrave, providing STDC with a 50 percent stake in Teesworks Ltd.

The Thai banks retained a 50 percent stake of their own in RBT - the only going concern on the whole site, moreso since the development of Woodhead Polyhalite mine in the North York Moors, who plan to export via RBT.

With redevelopment of the site continuing apace, backed by hundreds of millions of pounds of central government loans, a share transfer took place which saw the public sector retain only 10 percent in Teesworks Ltd, despite keeping the liabilities for the site.

December 2022: 90 acres bought for £100

As part of the joint venture agreement Teesworks Ltd has first refusal of any parcel of land remediated by STDC. The first parcel of land to complete remediation - 90 acres - was sold to Teesworks Ltd in December 2022 for £1 per acre, as per the joint venture agreement. A side agreement to this saw the taxpayer net £15m for the site, with £5m paid by the partners on March 31 2023 the only verifiable investment made by them so far. The outstanding £10m isn’t due until December 2025.

The private partners at Teesworks immediately sold a 40-year lease on the 90-acre plot they bought to Macquarie for £93.3m in cash. The Australian financial giant signed a lease agreement with Lord Houchen’s TVCA who pay £3.65m each year. TVCA subsequently sub-lets to eventual tenant, SeAH Wind, who will pay the taxpayer £4.3m a year once their offshore windfarm monopile factory is built.

Questions around this deal were raised by Private Eye magazine in early 2023, and The Yorkshire Post subsequently hired a reporter to specifically look into these issues. Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald accused the entire project of being mired in “industrial-scale corruption” in May 2023, subsequently drawing the national spotlight on Teesside.

After calls for an investigation by Parliament’s independent National Audit Office (NAO) from Labour’s Lisa Nandy were echoed by Lord Houchen, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove decided to appoint an independent panel to investigate on the basis the NAO doesn’t hold the requisite powers to conduct an inquiry of the sort.

The panel, chaired by Lancashire County Council chief executive Angie Ridgwell, was expected to quickly turn around its report into the specific allegations of “corruption, wrongdoing, or illegality” surrounding TVCA, STDC and Teesworks.

However, due to the thoroughness of the investigation, it has taken until now for the report to be ready. Despite allegations of tampering, it’s understood Michael Gove’s government department have published the investigation’s findings more or less as soon as it was delivered to them.