Britain’s steel industry, once a symbol of the nation’s industrial might, has entered a new chapter of uncertainty after the government took control of the country’s third-largest steelmaker, Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), on August 21, 2025. The dramatic intervention came after a High Court judge declared the company “hopelessly insolvent,” highlighting the dire financial state that had left its workforce and the future of key UK steel plants hanging in the balance.
SSUK, a division of Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel group, has long been a vital cog in the UK’s manufacturing sector, producing specialist steel for aerospace and defense industries at plants in Rotherham and Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire, and Wednesbury, West Midlands. Yet, despite its strategic importance, the company found itself crippled by mounting debts, with just £600,000 in the bank against a monthly wage bill of £3.7 million, according to court proceedings reported by BBC and ITV News.
The crisis reached its tipping point when Mr Justice Mellor, presiding at the High Court in London, issued a winding-up order, citing the urgent need for government intervention. “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 judge stated, as quoted by India Today. This decision placed the Official Receiver in charge of SSUK’s operations, supported by special managers from Teneo Financial Advisory Limited.
The government’s move has immediate and far-reaching consequences for the 1,450 workers at the affected plants. While the government has pledged to ensure employees are paid and to support local communities, the specter of job losses looms large. Talks between officials and trade unions continued late into the evening of August 21 as all sides scrambled to secure the best possible outcome for staff and the wider industry.
For many observers, the collapse of SSUK is a stark reflection of the challenges facing the UK’s steel sector. The company’s financial woes can be traced back to the 2021 collapse of Greensill Capital, which had lent approximately £3.3 billion (about $4.5 billion) to Gupta’s global GFG Alliance. With Greensill’s demise, GFG Alliance found itself under intense financial strain, and administrators have since been trying to recover billions in outstanding loans. The situation was further complicated by an ongoing investigation by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office into alleged fraudulent trading and money laundering within GFG Alliance, a probe that Gupta and his company have consistently denied, according to The Guardian.
Gupta, once hailed as the “saviour of steel” for his ambitious efforts to revive struggling mills across the globe, has seen his fortunes wane. Based in the United Arab Emirates, he has already lost control of several businesses in Europe, Singapore, and Australia. SSUK, until this week, was his most significant remaining metals asset in Britain.
Liberty Steel’s leadership was quick to criticize the court’s decision. Jeffrey Kabel, GFG Alliance’s Chief Transformation Officer, called the ruling “irrational… when we have support to resume operations and facilitate creditor recovery.” Kabel claimed that Liberty Steel had “pursued all options to make SSUK viable,” including efficiency improvements, reorganizations, customer support, and attempts to find a buyer. He also noted that the company had invested nearly £200 million in the steel firm and was in talks with major asset managers, including BlackRock and Fidera, to back a last-minute rescue plan. “Instead, liquidation will now impose prolonged uncertainty and significant costs on UK taxpayers for settlements and related expenses, despite the availability of a commercial solution,” Kabel argued, as reported by The Times of India and India Today.
Liberty’s legal team had pleaded for a four-week adjournment to allow for a “pre-pack administration,” which would have enabled the business to be sold to a bidder while reducing its debts. However, the court was unconvinced, with Justice Mellor expressing serious doubts about Gupta’s ability to deliver on his promises.
For workers on the ground, the mood is a mix of anxiety and cautious hope. Chris Williamson, a Community steel union representative at Rotherham, called for the government to consider renationalizing the business and managing it alongside British Steel’s Scunthorpe site, which was itself taken into government hands earlier in 2025. “It would make sense. They (Scunthorpe) only have a certain lifespan in the blast furnaces but we’re ready to go with an electric arc furnace,” Williamson said, expressing optimism that the business could survive if given the right support.
Union leaders and industry advocates have also used the crisis to highlight broader structural issues facing British steel. Gareth Stace, director general of trade body UK Steel, urged the government to act quickly to find a new owner and to address the high energy costs that have long plagued the sector. “Ministers must push on trade defence and reducing the burden of energy costs so that the Speciality Steels business, and the rest of the UK steel ecosystem, is sustainable,” Stace told Daily Mail.
The political fallout has been swift. Some opposition figures have blamed what they call “ruinously high energy costs driven by net zero dogma” for the collapse, arguing that British businesses cannot continue under such conditions. They have called for the government to lower taxes and make greater use of domestic energy resources to support heavy industry.
For its part, the government has emphasized its commitment to supporting workers and local communities. A spokesperson stated, “It is now for the independent Official Receiver to carry out their duties as liquidator, including ensuring employees are paid, while we also make sure staff and local communities are supported.” The Department for Business and Trade has reportedly received approaches from independent investors interested in restarting steelmaking at the affected sites, raising hopes that a commercial solution might yet emerge.
The collapse of SSUK is the second major government intervention in the UK steel industry this year. Earlier in 2025, ministers stepped in to take control of British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant after its Chinese owners threatened to idle the last remaining blast furnaces in the country. Both cases underscore the precarious state of an industry that remains vital to Britain’s economic and national security interests.
As the dust settles, the future of SSUK and its workforce remains uncertain. The coming weeks will be crucial as the Official Receiver, special managers, unions, and potential investors weigh their options. For now, the story of Britain’s steel industry is one of resilience in the face of adversity—a tale as old as the industry itself, and one that continues to unfold with each twist and turn.
