The UK government has dramatically stepped in to take control of Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), the country’s third-largest steelworks, following a High Court ruling that forced the company into compulsory liquidation on August 21, 2025. This intervention, which places more than half of Britain’s steel output under state oversight, marks a pivotal moment for the nation’s struggling steel industry and raises urgent questions about the future of manufacturing in the UK.
SSUK, a key division of Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel Group, employs around 1,450 people across Rotherham and Sheffield (with some reports putting the number at 1,500). The company has long been regarded as a cornerstone of Britain’s industrial infrastructure, producing specialist steels vital to the aerospace, defence, and power generation sectors. Yet, as the BBC reported, the High Court described SSUK as “hopelessly insolvent,” revealing that the company had just £600,000 in the bank compared to a staggering £3.7 million monthly wage bill. The government, now footing the bill for wages and ongoing costs, has placed SSUK under the control of the official receiver—its appointed liquidator—while the search for a private buyer begins.
This move follows a winding-up petition from creditors owed more than £200 million, including major institutions like UBS and the administrators of Greensill Capital. The latter’s spectacular collapse in 2021 sent shockwaves through Gupta’s global empire. According to The Guardian, Greensill had extended about $4.5 billion (roughly £3.3 billion) in financing to the Gupta Family Group (GFG) Alliance, underpinning a rapid expansion of steel and industrial assets across the UK, Europe, and Australia. When that financial lifeline vanished, so too did the stability of many of Gupta’s ventures, leaving SSUK as his most significant remaining metals asset in Britain.
Gupta, once hailed as the “saviour of steel” for his ambitious rescue and turnaround plans, has seen his fortunes nosedive. His companies are now under investigation by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office for alleged “fraud, fraudulent trading and money laundering”—allegations he and his business deny. The High Court’s decision to reject Liberty Steel’s plea for more time to secure funding was a sharp blow. Justice Mellor, presiding over the case, stated: “It is quite clear that there are special managers lined up who have the support of the government. I consider by far the preferable approach is to make a winding-up order.”
The government’s intervention is not without precedent. Earlier in 2025, ministers took control of British Steel’s Scunthorpe site, previously owned by a Chinese conglomerate, to prevent its blast furnaces from being mothballed. With a £500 million subsidy already committed to Tata Steel’s green transition in Wales, more than half of the UK’s annual 5.6 million tonnes steel output is now effectively state-run, according to The Times. The Labour government, led by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, has justified these moves as necessary to safeguard jobs and stabilize production, even as the Treasury faces the prospect of tens of millions in operating expenses—monthly wages at SSUK alone total about £4 million, all now funded by taxpayers.
For workers and unions, the situation is fraught with uncertainty. Unite, the largest union representing SSUK employees, has called for robust, long-term government support. General Secretary Sharon Graham did not mince words: “The government must provide long-term guarantees that it will protect jobs but also the company itself which forms part of the UK’s critical infrastructure. The products that Liberty Steel produces are crucial for the success of the UK economy. If the right buyer cannot be found then the government should be prepared to run the company itself and ensure it is ready to meet the challenges of the future.” Community, another major steelworkers’ union, described the court ruling as “a worrying development” and demanded clarity over job security.
Industry experts and legal professionals have weighed in on the structural challenges facing UK steel. Frank Bouette, a partner at DMH Stallard and a specialist in restructuring and insolvency, told BBC News: “It’s hardly surprising given the high production costs of producing steel in the UK vs global competition, coupled with the long term effects of de-industrialisation and a chronic lack of investment in the development of new technologies by governments across decades. It’s difficult to see how the pre-pack suggested by Mr Gupta would be a long term solution without major re-organisation of and investment in the business, which has not happened to date, let alone finding an administrator who’d be prepared to take on the costs and risks. Government intervention in the interim was in reality the only viable practical option.”
SSUK’s Rotherham plant, home to one of Britain’s few “green” electric arc furnaces, has not produced steel for over a year due to lack of funds. The loss of output has already forced gaps in the supply chain to be filled by imports, raising concerns about the resilience of domestic manufacturing. Gareth Stace, director-general of industry body UK Steel, emphasized the need for further government action: “The Government needs to protect the industry from unfair trade and high energy costs so that the Speciality Steels business, and the rest of the UK steel ecosystem, is sustainable.”
Meanwhile, the government insists it will seek to recover the costs of running SSUK through the eventual sale of its assets, with insolvency specialists Teneo tasked with finding a suitable buyer. The Department for Business and Trade has confirmed that independent investors have already expressed interest in restarting steelmaking at the Rotherham site. Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds described the steelworks and their workforce as “strategic assets” for Britain, underscoring the political and economic stakes of the intervention.
The collapse of SSUK is more than just a corporate failure—it’s a symptom of deeper issues plaguing Britain’s manufacturing heartlands. Steel, which employs around 37,000 people and contributes 0.8 percent of the country’s manufacturing output, remains a bellwether for the health of UK industry. For ministers, the challenge is as much about optics as economics: stabilize the plant, find a buyer, and protect skilled jobs—or risk accusations that the state is throwing good money after bad in a sector some see as locked in structural decline.
As the official receiver and Teneo take the reins at SSUK, the future of steelmaking in Britain hangs in the balance. The coming months will reveal whether government intervention can provide more than just a temporary lifeline for this critical industry—or if it marks another chapter in the long story of British deindustrialization.
