The United Kingdom (UK) Government has taken control of the country’s third-largest steelworks after a High Court ordered the compulsory winding up of Speciality Steels UK (SSUK), part of Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel empire.
The decision puts nearly 1,500 jobs in Rotherham and Sheffield at risk.
The court found SSUK to be hopelessly insolvent, with just £600,000 in cash against a £3.7m monthly wage bill, while its parent group faces insolvency proceedings across nine jurisdictions. As a result, the official receiver, a government-appointed liquidator along with consultants from Teneo, will oversee the company while ministers cover wages and running costs until a buyer is found.
Creditors, owed hundreds of millions, argued that the government-backed process would protect jobs and allow steel production to restart under new ownership. A letter from the Department for Business and Trade confirmed that third parties had already expressed interest in reviving parts of the business.
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Liberty Steel’s chief transformation officer, Jeffrey Kabel, condemned the ruling, insisting the company had offered a very good case to keep control.
He said Gupta’s team, supported by investment groups BlackRock and Fidera, had sought a pre-pack administration that would have allowed them to buy SSUK back while shedding debts. But, the judge rejected the plan, noting the company had not filed accounts since 2019 and faced major legal and financial instability.
SSUK’s difficulties began after the collapse of Greensill Capital, Liberty’s main lender, in 2021.
Since then, steel output at Rotherham has all but ceased, with most staff on furlough at 85% pay.
For workers, the uncertainty continues. Community union rep Chris Williamson, who has worked at the Rotherham site for over 25 years, said special managers had already arrived, but employees were still in the dark. “We’ve not been told anything so far. We just want certainty and to start producing steel again,” he said.
The GMB union described the development as “another tragedy for UK steel,” adding to the sector’s wider struggles with high energy costs, cheap imports, and lingering US tariffs.
This takeover follows the government’s intervention earlier this year at British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, as ministers attempt to safeguard an industry they say remains “vital to a bright and sustainable future.”
