​Council leaders welcome sale of Fort William aluminium smelter

Highland Council leaders have welcomed the announcement today of the sale of Fort William’s aluminium smelter by Rio Tinto to GFG Alliance.

Welcoming the news of the sale of the Rio Tinto Alcan assets in Lochaber, Council Leader Margaret Davidson said:

“I am very pleased that today’s announcement ends a period of uncertainty over the future of this important asset which is the UK’s last aluminium smelter. I look forward to working with GFG Group to support their plans to take the operation forward, retain these important jobs and potentially create further employment opportunities in Fort William. Highland Council will continue to support community land ownership engagements in whatever way we can.”

Leader of Lochaber Area Committee, Cllr Thomas MacLennan added:

“I fully understand and appreciate the importance of Fort William’s smelter to the local economy, as I followed in my father’s footsteps to learn a trade as a young apprentice at the plant. The smelter has been in Fort William for nearly 100 years; let’s hope that this news today leads to an expansion of the site and a lot more local jobs. In uncertain times it’s great to give people stability to plan for the future. There is a local aspiration to control land holding and I am interested to hear about how we will carry that aspiration forward in this exciting development.”