British Steel returns as Tata Steel sale completes
Tata Steel UK has completed the sale of its Long Products Europe business to Greybull Capital – but the future of the firm’s Corby site remains up in the air.
The deal brings to an end a long-running saga after Tata confirmed it was pulling out of the UK earlier this year, and marks a return of the British Steel brand.
Mr Bimlendra Jha, executive chairman of the Long Products Europe business and CEO of Tata Steel UK said: “As a responsible seller, Tata Steel is delighted to have secured a buyer for this business and we hope that under Greybull ownership, the business will continue the momentum of the improvement program that has been initiated in the last 12 months.
“Employees and trade unions have worked closely with the Long Products Europe management team to improve the business’s prospects, putting it in a more competitive position than it has been for many years. It is through their dedication and hard work that we are in this position today in spite of continued challenges in the market”.
From today the Long Products Europe business, which in the UK includes the Scunthorpe steelworks, two mills in Teesside, an engineering workshop in Workington, a design consultancy in York, and associated distribution facilities, as well as a rail mill in northern France, will trade under the name of British Steel. All together the business employs 4,800 people – 4,400 in the UK and 400 in France.
The sale follows an “accelerated process of negotiations” between Tata Steel UK and Greybull Capital.
The news Tata Steel Europe have posted a loss of £71m up to March 2016, a huge contrast with the £435m profit announced in the company’s last results.
Over the same period, the division’s turnover had also gone down 15.3%, reduced to £6.87 billion the previous year.
