Wed, 20 Aug 2025

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 Government prepares to take over UK's third-largest steelworks

Managers have been lined up to take control in a bid to protect 1,500 jobs at the Yorkshire plant.

* Government prepares to take control of UK's third largest steelworks, Speciality Steels UK (SSUK), in South Yorkshire.
* SSUK, owned by Liberty Steel, employs 1,500 people and has been struggling financially due to unpaid debts and lack of access to scrap metal.
* Managers have been lined up to take over the company if government intervention is required.
* A High Court judge will decide the fate of SSUK, with a winding-up order potentially leading to the plant's closure.
* Government offers reassurance that it will step in to protect jobs and save the business.
* Creditors owed hundreds of millions of pounds have petitioned for liquidation, but government intervention could mean selling off assets without any profit for creditors.
* Steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta's firm has been under scrutiny since main lender Greensill Capital collapsed in 2021.
* Government is not a fan of Mr. Gupta and has rejected his appeals for direct support, leaving the choice between allowing him to try to keep control or helping creditors recover their money through government takeover.
  >>