British Steel has been taken into public ownership from Chinese owner Jingye to protect jobs and domestic steelmaking.
According to Sky News, the primary source of primary steelmaking in the country was formally taken into public ownership 15 months after the government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs.
The government on Thursday, July 16, announced that British Steel has been taken into public ownership in the “national interest.”
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said a new leadership team had been appointed to focus on "stabilising the business and developing a commercially sustainable, low-carbon future."
It argued that the decision protected not only thousands of jobs at British Steel and in the supply chain but also the sector's "vital" role in the economy.
Britain's second-biggest steel producer was taken into government control in April last year after it emerged that Jingye Group, its Chinese owner since 2020, had drawn up plans to close its two blast furnaces at Scunthorpe.
The government said that despite extensive discussions, it had not been possible to reach an agreement with the now-former owner that would secure the future of the company while delivering value for taxpayers.
UK cannot be ‘wholly dependent’ on others
The business secretary Peter Kyle told Sky's Mornings with Ridge and Frost programme from Scunthorpe that an "independent process" would establish whether compensation was due to the company.
When asked about the jobs, he replied, “When it comes to the staffing here going into the future, everybody accepts there needs to be a modernisation programme. I'm in the process of appointing a board... they will make all the decisions about having a sustainable future."
Kyle said the bill was justified as the UK could not be "wholly dependent" on other countries for premium steel.
"They could hold us hostage. We could be stuck into all sorts of price shocks", he said "but we need to make sure that we have this critical supply to our infrastructure in our country. I've taken the decision to do so, and I'm proud of what we've done," he added.
Kyle asserted that British Steel now belongs to the British people and is focused on stabilizing business, backing the communities that rely on it and building sustainable, competitive and decarbonized steel sector in future.
