Opposite the Enterprise Revolution offices, where former steelworkers seek advice on self employment, stretches Redcar’s magnificent beach, lashed with rain. Beyond the sandbanks, the blast furnace looms cold and large through the mist.

In the UK, the latest crisis in steel’s long decline has sparked anger at the government and appeals to rescue more than 3,000 jobs. But steel’s woes stretch around the world: in China, half a million jobs are reckoned to be on the verge of disappearing.

For almost 170 years, iron and then steelmaking underpinned Teesside’s economy and self-image. Thousands of men thought this was a job for life: start in your teens, finish at 60 or thereabouts, job done — and a good pension.