Thousands of jobs at risk as owners of British Steel in Lincolnshire seek government support

Hundreds of jobs could be a risk at Scunthorpe based British Steel, as the company's owners have reportedly asked for urgent financial aid from the Government.

The headquarters in Scunthorpe currently employs around 4,000 people.

British Steel said it is facing significant challenges because of economic slowdown, surging inflation and exceptionally high energy and carbon prices.

It has been reported that the Chinese owners have told ministers that without aid the company's blast furnaces are unlikely to be operable.

It is not clear how much financial support is being sought.

A spokesperson said: "We are investing hundreds of millions of pounds in our long-term future. We welcome the recent announcement by the UK Government to reduce energy costs for businesses and remain in dialogue with officials to ensure we compete on a level playing field with our global competitors."

It's not the first time Britain's second-biggest steel producer has sought financial help.

British Steel was formed in 2016 when India's Tata Steel sold the business for £1 to Greybull Capital, an investment firm.

However, in May 2019, an urgent £30 million financial aid package from the government fell apart, collapsing it into insolvency.

It was eventually was bought out of insolvency by Jingye Group in 2020.

A spokesperson from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said it is "working at pace" to understand the best way forward.

"We recognise that businesses are feeling the impact of high global energy prices, particularly steel producers, which is why we have announced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme to bring down costs. This is in addition to extensive support we have provided to the steel sector as a whole to help with energy costs, worth more than £780m since 2013."

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