More jobs will be created in Blaenau Ffestiniog, thanks to the reopening of two quarries.

Welsh Slate’s reopening of the Ffestiniog and Cwt y Bugail quarries will create 19 new jobs for the area.

The company is also expanding its operations at Penrhyn quarry near Bethesda, which will bring another 10 jobs. Welsh Slate said the 29 jobs are just the start of their expansion plans and they are “looking for even more” new roles in the future.

Director, Michael Hallé, said the company needs young people “coming into the quarry and seeing it as an opportunity as a career going forward”.

“We’re very, very keen to develop that,” he added.

MP Liz Saville Roberts at a recent visit to Minffordd Quarry
MP Liz Saville Roberts at a recent visit to Minffordd Quarry (Plaid Cymru)

Welsh Slate works with colleges and schools, and has programmes to encourage apprenticeship schemes.

Plans to extract 250,000 tonnes of Penrhyn purple slate were approved in November. The decision extends the life of the quarry to the end of 2035.

The news of Welsh Slate’s expansion and plans to create new jobs has been welcomed.

Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP, Liz Saville Roberts, said: “This is good news for Blaenau Ffestiniog with the reopening of the Ffestiniog and Cwt y Bugail quarries and the creation of 19 new jobs for the local economy.

“Cwt y Bugail has been producing slate since 1840 and it is exciting to see the site being developed once again for the extraction and processing of Welsh slate.

“I recently met representatives from Breedon at Chwarel y Minffordd to discuss their future investment plans.

“The growing demand for Welsh slate is directly contributing to the creation and protection of local jobs - underscoring the continued value of slate to our local and national economies.”

Welsh Slate supplies slate world-wide for a range of exterior and interior design applications.

It owns and operates the famous Penrhyn and Cwt-y-Bugail quarries in north Wales and has been supplying the world with high quality slate for hundreds of years.

Penrhyn Quarry has been producing roofing slate since the 13th century and has been the centre and the focal point for UK natural stone for over 700 years. It became the world’s largest slate quarry in the 19th, when it employed more than 2,500 people. The industrial minerals plant in Ffestiniog supplies the UK and Europe.

Welsh Slate is a part of the Breedon Group plc which is the largest independent construction materials group in the UK.