There are six steel companies in the UK, four of which are currently being financially supported by the government, and ministers believe the sector is too fragmented. It's understood that the preference inside the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is to find a joint buyer, rather than nationalise the companies.
On Thursday, the official receiver stepped in to take charge of the Rotherham steelworks in South Yorkshire after the High Court approved a winding-up petition from creditors. The ruling forced Gupta's Speciality Steel UK (SSUK) into administration, raising the prospect of closure for a plant that employs 1,500 workers and is home to one of Britain's few "green" electric arc furnaces.
Liberty Speciality Steel has collapsed into administration after a winding-up petition in the High Court, placing one of the UK's most strategically important steelmaking businesses under government control. The South Yorkshire-based company, which employs around 1,450 people, will now be managed by special officials appointed by the Government's Official Receiver. Liberty Speciality Steel supplies high-grade steel products to critical sectors including aerospace, defence, power generation, oil and gas, and rail.