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Prestigious Investors in People standard renewed EMPLOYEES are being thanked for their support after Steelite International was re-accredited for the prestigious Investors in People standard. The company has now held the benchmark – which benefits workers and management and helps to boost customer
relations – for around a decade and a half. Assessors worked with the company
during 2016, interviewing members of staff as part of the process. Following feedback from the assessor the Steelite Human Resources team will be working hard across the business to improve internal communications and feedback given to employees.
Andrew Bennett is pictured at the Apedale Heritage Centre alongside a memorial commemorating the 1937 Holditch Colliery Disaster in which 30 men died.
Helping to preserve local mining heritage ANDREW Bennett plays a key role in safeguarding the heritage of a historic North Staffordshire valley. The Steelite employee is the manager of the museum at Apedale Heritage Centre which preserves and records the history and industries of the Apedale Valley near Newcastle-under-Lyme. The Centre is on the site of the Aurora drift mine alongside the former Apedale deep coal mines which operated from the late 18th century to the start of the 20th century. Steelite IT Manager Andrew – who first got involved with volunteer activity at the heritage site when he created a website for the Centre – has an affinity with the setting.
“Apedale is very close to where I grew up and I used to play around the area when I was young,” he said. “Both my great grandfather and my great uncle died in pit accidents, at Holditch and Wolstanton Collieries. “I am really pleased to be helping to preserve a piece of history – there are not a lot of museums featuring mining in North Staffordshire.” After initially volunteering at weekends, Andrew eventually became manager of the museum where he develops new displays, handles the administration and catalogues items. “The museum houses items showing Roman occupation and the development of canals and ironworking in the valley as well as
The fossilised tree stump. mining,” he said. “One of our exhibits is a fossilised tree stump which was once housed on a site occupied by the Steelite headquarters.” ● The Heritage Centre, which features a cafe, is located in the Apedale Community Country Park, with mine tours and an adjacent light railway as attractions. 13