Mining firm to shut Scarborough offices

Mining firm Anglo American has announced it is closing its offices in Scarborough as part of a "slowdown" aimed at reducing costs.

The company has said it will close Resolution House, from mid-December, alongside a second office at Wilton International in Redcar.

Earlier this year, the firm said it was axing more than 100 jobs at the Woodsmith fertiliser mine near Whitby.

Announcing the cuts in June, the firm's chief executive officer in the crop nutrients division, Tom McCulley, said “budget constraints within Anglo, which are outside of the Woodsmith team’s control, necessitate that we slow down for 18 months”.

North Yorkshire Council said approximately 40 people are based at Resolution House, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Council leader, Carl Les, said: “Everyone who has, or will be, impacted is aware of their situation.

“In total, the number of job losses of York and North Yorkshire residents resulting from the slowdown began will be approximately 170.”

Anglo American is developing a polyhalite fertiliser mine and a 23-mile tunnel as part of a plan to transport the product to Teesside and sell the fertiliser globally to boost crop yields.

It said it had made the decision to consolidate its team at “one location at Woodsmith Mine on a temporary basis during the slowdown”.

It is understood that the company will retain ownership of the Resolution House site and plans to return “when the project ramps back up”.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.