The head of ICL Boulby says he is confident that the ‘spirit of unity which has enabled us to meet the challenges of Coronavirus will ensure that we can successfully move forward in securing our future.’
Boulby’s general manager and vice president Andrew Fulton praised the efforts of everyone involved with the mine in maintaining operations throughout the pandemic at the same as ensuring the safety of all employees.
He also revealed that, with production levels improving on a month by month basis, the company is recruiting for a range of posts and is planning to significantly step up apprenticeship numbers.
The mine is the world’s first and only producer of the revolutionary multi-nutrient mineral polyhalite—marketed as Polysulphate—which is now being used by farmers and growers here in the UK and across five continents.
Said Mr Fulton “Our contribution to supporting food supplies during the pandemic was recognised by the Government’s identification of our status as an essential industry and, thanks to everyone working together across all parts of our operation, we have been able to meet the very real challenges of continuing production at the same time as introducing comprehensive control measures to deliver Covid 19 security, including for example staggering shift start times, limiting numbers where appropriate and then, most importantly, supporting each of those who needed to either isolate or shield to make the right personal choices and remain in control of the virus’s spread.
“I am pleased that as numbers return to pre-COVID levels we are also recruiting to fill vacancies across a range of roles. In addition we are beginning the process of creating nine apprenticeship opportunities, following on from six who joined us a year ago.
“At a time when every aspect of the economy has been under such pressure, I believe we can be greatly encouraged both by our ability to maintain and now enhance production…and our success in breaking into new markets.
“Recently, for example, we completed our first shipment of 25,000 tonnes of Polysulphate to India and we have also concluded contracts totalling over a million tonnes to supply to customers in the Ukraine, Poland, China and Spain.”
