Liberty Speciality Steel, which employs around 1,450 people and is part of the Liberty Steel group owned by Sanjeev Gupta, is entering administration following a winding down petition in the high court. The business is now under the control of special managers, with Teneo Financial Advisory appointed by the government’s official receiver to assist with the liquidation.
Providing vital steelmaking capacity in aerospace, defence and power generation, and with plants in Sheffield and Rotherham, the firm’s steel can be found in aircraft carriers, military aircraft components and defence systems, landing gear, controls and in components for oil and gas, power generation, rail and more.
Responding to the development, South Yorkshire’s mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: “Today’s news about Liberty Steel is difficult, but offers the opportunity for clarity and a path forward. There is and will continue to be a period of uncertainty for workers at Liberty’s two sites in South Yorkshire.
“So I welcome the positive comments from the Secretary of State for Business in the wake of the Court’s decision.
“I now want to see swift progress from government to safeguard the unique steel making capabilities we have here in our region. I will be seeking a conversation with Ministers as a matter of urgency and will do everything I can to make sure that workers at Liberty Steel and the steel industry that is so integral to our identity, have the brightest possible future.”
Liberty Speciality Steel has faced financial difficulties since Liberty Steel’s main lender collapsed. Creditors, owed hundreds of millions of pounds, have petitioned for the business to enter liquidation so assets can be sold to recover debts. Lawyers for GFG Alliance, Liberty Steel’s parent company, requested a court adjournment to allow the company to enter administration and potentially be sold without government involvement.
Gareth Stace, director general at UK Steel, the trade association for the UK steel industry, said: “UK Steel welcomes the Government’s recognition of the importance of the Liberty Speciality Steel assets and hopes that a new owner is found quickly and can inject the investment and working capital required to return production volumes to previous levels.
“The assets produce high quality, specialist steels that serve high value markets. The low production levels of recent years have left significant holes in the domestic supply chain that have been filled by imports. We hope to see these holes quickly filled by UK-made steel.
“The Government must continue to push on trade defence and reducing the burden of energy costs so that the Speciality Steels business, and the rest of the UK steel ecosystem, is sustainable, and steel workers will in future be spared from the limbo state that the employees in South Yorkshire have endured.”
The news comes after the government took over the running of British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant earlier this year.
