Ministers have been temporarily called back from their Easter break to help save the national landmark.
While British Steel’s plant in Scunthorpe prides itself on using blast furnaces to make virgin steel – a material often used in major construction projects like new buildings and railways – the organisation is likewise burning a huge hole through its profits.
The company, which was bought off Tata Steel in 2016, have recently unveiled they’re losing £700,000 a day despite £1.2billion of investment and has begun a 45-day consultation on job cuts.
To give context on how drastic the latter is, the plant in Lincolnshire employs 2,700 people, which equates to around three quarters of the company’s entire workforce.
The news has caused a huge stir in government and ministers are currently working on plans to save the business. Last Friday prime minister Keir Starmer announced plans to fast-track a law through parliament which would give the government the power to assume control of some of the site’s operations.
These would include the ability to order raw materials, keep the furnaces (which make the materials) running and to direct the company’s board and workforce.
Against this backdrop, the government also called MPs to attend a weekend Parliament sitting on Saturday 12th April despite them being away for Easter break.
According to government figures, there are over 1,100 businesses in the UK steel industry, directly supporting 40,000 other firms across the country. However, British Steel is the last plant capable of producing virgin steel. Two blast furnaces are used to create the product, which has fewer imperfections than the recycled steel made elsewhere in the country.
Meanwhile, in 2023 the UK steel industry contributed £2.3billion to the economy and if there’s anything our country needs right now it’s measures to help recover our financial state.
Photo by Ant Rozetsky via UnSplash
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