Government promises to commit to British steel

At the Steel Council meeting in April 2025, the UK Government confirmed that it is committed to supporting British steel production.

Steel is widely used by a warehouse equipment manufacturer as it is strong, durable and versatile. It is a challenging to secure adequate supplies of steel at reasonable cost in a world affected by high steel tariffs.

The meeting of the Steel Council was attended by industry leaders from steel firms Tata, British Steel, Liberty and others. Union representatives and politicians also attended. Sarah Jones, the Industry Minister, hosted the meeting. She said:

“This government will always stand up for UK steelmaking, and where others may talk tough, we are acting, with money ready to go to back up British industry. With our steel plan, we’re placing it at the heart of our growth mission,”

She announced that the government’s steel plan is looking at several options to support the industry.

The government’s Network Charging Compensation (NCC) scheme provides payments to energy-intensive industries, including steel. It is expected that the steel industry will receive £300 million in 2025 from this scheme.

British Steel supplies steel to major UK infrastructure projects including 98% of the steel used in Network Rail’s train tracks. The government is working to protect 2,700 jobs at British Steel in Scunthorpe whose owners say is not currently financially viable. The Unite trade union wants the company to be nationalised. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has stated that “all options remain on the table”, but has not commentated directly on nationalisation.

You may also interested in: