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British Steel has been placed in compulsory liquidation, putting 5,000 jobs at risk and endangering 20,000 in the supply chain.

The move follows a breakdown in rescue talks between the government and the company's owner, Greybull.

The Government's Official Receiver has taken control of the company as part of the liquidation process.

The search for a buyer for British Steel has already begun. In the meantime, it will trade normally.

The Official Receiver said British Steel Ltd had been wound up in the High Court and the immediate priority was to continue safe operation of the site.

The company was transferred to the Official Receiver because British Steel, its shareholders and the government were not able to, or would not, support the business. That meant the company did not have to funds to pay for an administration.

The other companies within the British Steel group are continuing to trade as normal and are not in insolvency.

British Steel customer Network Rail sources 95% of its rails from British Steel's Scunthorpe plant.

In a statement, the rail infrastructure operator said it had been working closely with British Steel and the government for "many weeks".

"We have done what we can to help ease the company's financial difficulties. We have improved our order book with the company - increasing rail production volumes, bringing orders forward and committing to a long term schedule - as well as offering immediate payment to ease the pressure on cash flow."

It is understood the company has enough stockpiles to keep it going until other suppliers can increase production.

Now, lets wait and see all those hard right Tory BREXITEERS stand up and vote to nationalise it to start rebuilding a 'free' Britiain.........

You know, there's another forum I post on where, if you type the word Scunthorpe, their software censors it - it doesn't seem to like a four-letter combination withn it...  ;D  )

Meanwhile, a fair proportion of the residents of Scunthorpe who supported Brexit appear to be amongst the first to find they voted for a P45.

How have customers reacted?

British Steel customer Network Rail sources 95% of its rails from British Steel's Scunthorpe plant.

In a statement, the rail infrastructure operator said it had been working closely with British Steel and the government for "many weeks".

"We have done what we can to help ease the company's financial difficulties. We have improved our order book with the company - increasing rail production volumes, bringing orders forward and committing to a long term schedule - as well as offering immediate payment to ease the pressure on cash flow."

It is understood the company has enough stockpiles to keep it going until other suppliers can increase production.

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From The BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48365241) - relevance to rail travel ...

Bit of duplication there Grahame.  That was in my original post.

 ... duplication reduction tomorrow!

We have been working closely with British Steel and colleagues across government for many weeks. We have done what we can to help ease the company’s financial difficulties. We have improved our order book with the company – increasing rail production volumes, bringing orders forward and committing to a long term schedule – as well as offering immediate payment to ease the pressure on cash flow. However we have today been officially informed that British Steel has entered insolvency proceedings.

British Steel is a major supplier to Network Rail, providing around 100,000 tonnes of rail a year and playing a major part in our plans to maintain, renew and upgrade the railway.

We are confident that we remain able to carry out critical work on the railway in the coming months and beyond. Longer term we have plans in place so that we can continue to deliver the reliable railway millions of people depend on every day.

We understand this is a very worrying time for British Steel employees and we will work with the liquidator and continue to offer our support.

Nothing to do with China flooding the market with cheap steel then?

Network Rail has made a bid for parts of British Steel ahead of an initial deadline for offers for the company, which collapsed into liquidation in May putting 4,500 jobs at risk.

The company, which manages the UK’s 20,000 miles of rail tracks, said it made the bid to avoid the possibility of losing one of its most important suppliers. The British railway system is heavily dependent on British Steel, which accounts for 97% of the steel used in railway tracks.

From The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/30/network-rail-bids-for-parts-of-british-steel)


1. The dangers of being dependent on a single source of supply

2. Nationalisation of parts of British Steel via the back door??

The "parts of British Steel" are described elsewhere  as: "The offer is understood to include British Steel’s rail service centre business, responsible for the welding, finishing and storing of rails for the UK’s rail network, according to a story first reported in the Sunday Telegraph."

So not the rail production business, certainly It looks like something that only has NR as its end customer, and might have been done in house anyway (if fashions in such things were different).

The "parts of British Steel" are described elsewhere  as: "The offer is understood to include British Steel’s rail service centre business, responsible for the welding, finishing and storing of rails for the UK’s rail network, according to a story first reported in the Sunday Telegraph."

So not the rail production business, certainly. It looks like something that only has NR as its end customer, and might have been done in house anyway (if fashions in such things were different).