UK government develops plans to rescue Liberty Steel

The British government is considering intervening and using public funds to sustain production, akin to the support provided by British Steel in 2019. In May 2019, British Steel was forcibly liquidated and transferred to the Official Beneficiary, an employee of the government agency, the Bankruptcy Service. It was then sold to the Chinese steel group Jingye in March last year, but the intervention cost taxpayers nearly £ 600 million.

A government spokesman who said: “The government is closely following developments around Liberty Steel and continues to work closely with the company, the entire UK steel industry and trade unions. Recognizing that the pandemic has had a significant impact on the entire UK economy, including steelmakers, our unparalleled support package is available to the sector to protect jobs and ensure manufacturers have the right support during this challenging time. ”

Liberty Steel's future has been questioned by the collapse of Greensill Capital, the largest lender to Gupta's GFG Alliance, of which Liberty is a part. GFG employs approximately 5,500 people in over 30 UK locations. The court record showed that Greensil had approximately $ 5 billion in Mr. Gupta's company. There are concerns that Greensill may charge fees for Liberty assets and therefore taxpayer money.