Relief for blast furnace workers as 2,700 redundancies shelved (2025)

Relieved steelworkers at Britain’s last blast furnaces have had the threat of redundancy removed following the government’s dramatic takeover 10 days ago.

British Steel this evening confirmed it will end the consultation on 2,700 redundancies announced by Chinese owners Jingye at the end of March.

The two furnaces at Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, will continue in operation after Parliament was reconvened on the Saturday before Easter to pass emergency legislation to take control.

After raw materials began to be delivered last week, plans to mothball one furnace using a ‘Salamander Tap’ in which liquid metal is drained and the structure kept warm, have also been cancelled.

Lisa Coulson, British Steel’s interim chief commercial officer, said: ‘This has been a difficult and worrying time for British Steel staff and their families. I can however confirm that we are closing the redundancy consultation without action.

‘Since the Government passed its legislation, we have been working day and night to ensure we are able to stabilise our operations.

‘The work done to secure the raw materials we need for both Queen Anne and Queen Bess blast furnaces means we are able to run both continuously.’

Welcoming the move, Industry Minister Sarah Jones said it would bring ‘certainty for thousands of hard-working staff for the long term’.

Unions also backed the decision to remove the threat of redundancy – but repeated their calls for full renationalisation which Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said is the ‘most likely’ option.

Alun Davies, National Secretary for Steel at Community Union, said the steelworks had been ‘saved from a disastrous cliff edge’ – after Jingye had declined to pay for more raw materials for the site, claiming it was losing £700,000 a day.

He added: ‘We will now continue to work tirelessly to ensure the business gets the bright future it needs and deserves.’

Unite called for the government to slash energy prices – as well as take ownership of the site, where the aging blast furnaces are reaching the end of their lives and need replacing.

The government had offered Jingye £500m towards a £2bn project to build two new electric arc furnaces but the Chinese company wanted a £1.2bn subsidy. No announcement has yet been made on how the new furnaces will now be funded.

The union’s spokesperson said: ‘This should be just the first step to begin the process of nationalisation

‘The government now needs to implement a wholesale overhaul of its energy policy with a commitment to invest in renewables to lower energy prices for heavy industry like steel production.

‘This needs to be alongside a massive investment in electric arc furnaces and a national strategic plan to get British steel users to buy domestically for large scale infrastructure projects.’

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, GMB National Officer, called the end of the redundancy process ‘fantastic news for steel workers and the people of Scunthorpe’, adding: ‘It’s like a cloud has been lifted from above the whole community.

‘It confirms the Government is serious about saving 2,700 jobs and the UK’s vital steel industry.’

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