wiredinUSA September 2014

INDEX

Calls for action over Carrington Wire

the Conservative MP for Calder Valley, wrote to the pensions regulator, calling for an investigation into the position of the company’s pension scheme after Carrington Wire was sold out of the Severstal group. A Severstal spokesman said: “Severstal acquired Carrington Wire in 2006. In spite of financial support and initiatives to return the business to profitability, a dramatic contraction of the market for steel wire led to thecompany, after exploringall options, winding down and selling the business in 2010. Severstal met all of its obligations to fund the pension scheme while Carrington Wire was under its ownership.” A spokesman for the pensions regulator said: “The investigation is ongoing, and a hearing is listed and due to commence in January 2015, where the Determinations Panel will be asked to make a determination in accordance with the provisions of the Pensions Act.”

A member of the UK parliament is calling for the prime minister to intervene to save the pensions of 500 former Carrington Wire workers. Barnsley Central’s Labour MP, Dan Jarvis, has raised repeated concerns about the length of time taken by the pensions regulator to complete its investigation into the pension scheme at Carrington Wire. Concerns have been raised that former staff face ‘serious hardship.’

Carrington Wire closed in 2010. Russian parent company Severstal said the decision was due to a contraction in the steel wire market. In 2010, Craig Whittaker,

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