EUROPE: The former Tata Steel Long Products Europe business began trading under the revived British Steel brand on June 1, following completion of the sale to Greybull Capital.
British Steel has 4 800 employees, with manufacturing operations at the Scunthorpe integrated steelworks, Teesside Beam Mill and Skinningrove Special Profiles plants in the UK and the Hayange Rail Mill in France, as well as an engineering business in Workington and a design consultancy.
Family investment office Greybull has arranged a £400m investment and financing package provided by a combination of the shareholders and their banks to support a turnaround plan and future investment. Bank financing is provided by PNC Business Credit UK, and terms have also been agreed with Citi for an inventory facility.
An agreement to ‘reset the cost base’ has been reached with key suppliers and the workforce, who voted in favour of temporary changes to their terms and conditions designed to return the business to long-term profitability.
‘It has taken a huge amount of effort and a strong partnership between our employees and their union representatives, our customers and our suppliers, and many months of hard work to get to this point’, said British Steel Commercial Director Peter Hogg. ‘We also appreciate the help and support from both local and national government and our local members of parliament. Our industry has faced challenging times over the last few years, but we are confident that our new venture, built on our core values of pride, passion and performance, will not only reinvigorate this business, but position it as a world leader.’
