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| British Steel to enter insolvency endangering 5,000 jobs | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| British Steel is set to be placed into an insolvency process, putting 5,000 jobs in the UK at risk and endangering 20,000 in the supply chain. | British Steel is set to be placed into an insolvency process, putting 5,000 jobs in the UK at risk and endangering 20,000 in the supply chain. |
| The move follows a breakdown in rescue talks between the government and the company's owner, Greybull. | The move follows a breakdown in rescue talks between the government and the company's owner, Greybull. |
| The Government's Official Receiver will take control of the company as part of the insolvency process. | The Government's Official Receiver will take control of the company as part of the insolvency process. |
| Accountancy firm EY will take on the role of Special Manager and attempt to find a buyer for the business. | Accountancy firm EY will take on the role of Special Manager and attempt to find a buyer for the business. |
| British Steel has about 5,000 employees. There are 3,000 at Scunthorpe, with another 800 on Teesside and in north-eastern England. | |
| The rest are in France, the Netherlands and various sales offices round the world. | |
| Struggling | |
| British Steel's troubles have been linked to a slump in orders from European customers due to uncertainty over the Brexit process. | |
| The firm has also been struggling with the weakness of the pound since the EU referendum in June 2016 and the escalating US-China trade war. | |
| Private equity firm Greybull Capital bought the company for a nominal £1 during the depths of the steel crisis in 2016. | |
| It then rebranded the company as British Steel and recently returned it to profit. | |
| One of its biggest customers is Network Rail, 95% of whose rails are supplied by British Steel's Scunthorpe plant. | |
| 'Nationalisation' | |
| GMB general secretary, Tim Roache: "This is devastating news for the thousands of workers in Scunthorpe and across the UK. | |
| "Ministers should have been ready to make use of all the options - including nationalisation - in order to save British Steel but they either don't care or wouldn't take off their ideological blinkers to save hard working people and communities. | |
| "GMB demands urgent reassurances on what the future holds for the thousands of British steel workers and their families." |