British Steel plans to recruit more than 180 workers, just weeks after the government intervened to rescue 2,700 jobs at the Scunthorpe-based company. 

In March, the Chinese owner Jingye had proposed closing the two blast furnaces at the site due to significant financial losses but in April ministers stepped in to ensure that raw materials reached the site so that the furnaces could remain operational.

In a rare recall of parliament, ministers were granted emergency powers to take control of British Steel and continue production. The Steel Special Measures Act was passed on 12 April. The planned redundancies were reversed at the end of the month.

British Steel

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British Steel to shed 2,700 jobs at Scunthorpe plant

The business, now overseen by the government, said that now it had secured iron ore and coking coal raw materials, it would run a jobs fair later this month for 165 roles at the Scunthorpe plant and a further 17 at its Teesside mill and at Skinningrove in north Yorkshire.

The recruitment day will be held in Scunthorpe and is designed to fill professional and skilled positions in the legal department, in environmental chemistry and engineering, as well as in the stores, in labouring and cleaning.

“With the backing of the UK government, we are focused on cementing British Steel as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of steel,” said Allan Bell, the senior British Steel director who ministers have installed as the group’s interim chief executive.

His statement added: “To help achieve this and meet customer demand, we will be upping production across all our sites. These are exciting opportunities across our business, offering rewarding careers which will play important roles in building stronger futures for our business and the UK economy.”

British Steel employs more than 3,000 people, the vast majority of those at Scunthorpe, which has the UK’s last remaining blast furnace producing virgin steel.

The government intervened in saving Scunthorpe not only because of its employment and economic importance to the north of England but also because of its status as a national industrial asset and key supplier to sectors including the construction industry and the nationalised railways.

Previously, under Jingye, a funding plan had been developed to convert the Scunthorpe complex to host recycled-content electric arc furnace equipment instead of blast furnaces, in a similar arrangement to that implemented by Tata Steel in Port Talbot, Wales.

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