From today the Long Products Europe business, which in the United Kingdom 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.
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Lincoln printing company Ruddocks has designed a new brand for former Tata Steel Long Products division, which was sold yesterday to Greybull Capital for £1.
“All together the business employs 4,800 people – 4,400 in the United Kingdom and 400 in France”, it added.
Peter Hogg, British Steel’s commercial director commented, “Today marks the first day of business for our new company and we are delighted to be launching under the iconic British Steel brand”.
This deal is aside the group’s plan to sell the entire United Kingdom steel business for which talks are on.
Tata started talks with Greybull about the sale in December, three months before the Indian conglomerate made a decision to sell its entire United Kingdom business. Long products are items such as steel pipes that are sold by length.
The deal, which was widely reported to be for a nominal fee of one British pound ($1.4), is unrelated to Tata’s search for a buyer for its steelworks in Port Talbot, Wales.
“The sales process for the wider United Kingdom business is continuing”, Tata told AFP in an emailed statement Wednesday.
Unite’s convenor in Scunthorpe, Martin Foster, said: “British Steel’s first day of trading marks the beginning of a new chapter not only for Scunthorpe, but United Kingdom steelmaking”.
Tata on Wednesday said it would “not be commenting on the agreed price with Greybull”.
The firm, founded in 2008 by the French-born brothers Nathaniel and Marc Meyohas, said it had £400 million ready to invest in the business.
However, he repeated his call for Government help to ensure the venture doesn’t become mired in cost worries, and warned ministers to take their time while finding a buyer for Tata’s remaining assets, which include the Hartlepool mills.
“The name British Steel has a long and proud history and”.
Steelworkers have welcomed the completion of the sale, with Community union general secretary Roy Rickhuss describing it as “a new chapter in the course of the United Kingdom steel industry”.
It accounted for 40 percent of the world’s steel production in 1875 thanks to huge factory output in England’s northern city Sheffield.
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“This is a momentous occasion in the country’s steel industry and we are delighted to be part of it”.
