British Steel welcomed Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade, to our Scunthorpe site yesterday.
We discussed the significant challenges Britain’s steelmakers like ourselves face, and our pressing need for support from the UK Government on our journey to net zero.
Following the talks with our owners and British Steel leadership team, the Secretary of State toured our Scunthorpe operations. The works, and our sites in Teesside and Skinningrove, are integral to ensuring Britain has the secure supply of high-quality steel it will need for decades to come.
British Steel is the UK’s only manufacturer of structural sections and these go into 3 out of 4 major construction projects in this country. We are also the only company in the UK which makes rail and special profiles.
In addition to this, we directly provide thousands of highly skilled and well-paid jobs while an estimated 19,000 people are employed in our supply chain.
We are looking to rapidly progress our discussions with the government as our shareholder – which has invested £330 million in capital projects at British Steel in 3 years – is committed to transforming our business with further planned investments providing the government can give assurances of a competitive landscape for energy and carbon.
Our decarbonisation strategy is underpinned by our Low-Carbon Roadmap, which will help secure low embedded carbon steelmaking in the UK. However, we need the British government to adopt the correct policies and frameworks now to back our drive to become a clean, green, and successful company. Governments in the countries where our major competitors operate have adopted such policies and the longer we wait for their implementation in the UK, the more impact this will have on our competitiveness and the country's ability to meet its carbon objectives.
British Steel is committed to working with the government and to making the home-made steel Britain needs for generations to come.
Following the visit, the Secretary of State said: "I was proud to show my support for British Steel and the steel industry in Scunthorpe today. It's been fascinating seeing first-hand the important work that goes on here every day, and Scunthorpe’s steelworks’ significance for the local economy, and for our steel industry generally, cannot be overstated.
"It's a crucial time for the industry as our country moves towards net zero and I know steelmakers are working hard to make changes to cut their carbon emissions."
You can read more about our Low-Carbon Roadmap here and our recently published Decarbonisation Action Report here.