Last month I visited BOC Gas & Gear in Wolverhampton.

The multi-national company, with a branch located on Lower Walsall Street in Wolverhampton, has been there for over 100 years. Originally set up to supply Oxygen and Nitrogen to local manufacturers plus steel companies such as Round Oak Steel Works in Dudley. It is now a busy and critical hub for distribution throughout the UK.

They are a major plant, supplying both industrial and medical gases to a number of markets locally and nationally.

The Wolverhampton branch employs over 200 people and has taken on 40 new staff in the last year.

It was fantastic to see how BOC has developed over the years in my constituency, I had a tour of the site and BOC raised a number of issues, particularly around energy costs; not only for them but for other intensive energy users in manufacturing.