Chemical plant starts production after takeover
The site, which makes titanium dioxide pigment, stopped production last year.
Following its acquisition, a chemical plant in Greatham has resumed operations.
The facility, previously owned by Venator, has recommenced streamlined production months after its former owners laid off hundreds of workers.
Now operating as Tioxide Materials Limited, a newly established company, the titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment production plant in Greatham, Hartlepool, is back in business.
LB Group, the parent company of Tioxide Materials Limited, acquired the plant from Venator Materials UK. Venator entered administration last year, resulting in 270 job losses across its Greatham, Wynyard, and Birtley locations.
Tioxide announced a phased return to operations, with the goal of reaching the site's full production capacity by early 2027. Titanium dioxide is a key ingredient in coatings, plastics, and inks.
The Greatham manufacturing facility, which commenced production in 1971, is touted by Tioxide as capable of "strengthen[ing] your brands and products to perform at the highest level."
Managing Director Karen Askwith stated, "Drawing on more than 50 years of manufacturing heritage, the site at Greatham has a proud history of producing high-quality TiO2 pigments. This is an important step forward for our new business – but also for the local economy on Teesside, for the UK chemical sector and the wider TiO2 industry."