Network Rail deal provides £500m boost for British Steel

Worth over £500m, the deal is a welcome shot in the arm for the ailing company, which was recently threatened with closure by its Chinese owners Jingye. Emergency legislation passed in April this year prevented British Steel’s Scunthorpe blast furnaces from being shut down, presenting a lifeline for the site’s 2,700 employees and the future of primary steelmaking in the UK. According to Jingye, the site is losing around £700,000 a day.

The Scunthorpe facility – the UK’s last remaining blast furnace steelworks – has been supplying Network Rail with track for more than 20 years. According to British Steel, in the last decade alone it has manufactured over one million tonnes of rail for the UK’s network operator.

“We are exceptionally proud to be extending our long-term strategic partnership with Network Rail with an agreement demonstrating British Steel’s importance to the UK’s economy and infrastructure,” said Craig Harvey British Steel’s commercial director for Rail.