British Steel's emerging new dawn: Let's hope the future is bright... and green

A torturous 10 months is almost over for the vast majority of Scunthorpe’s proud steel workforce.

Jingye Group’s agreement to a conditional completion had felt like a long time coming. Initial Turkish delight dissipated with a period of exclusive due diligence dissolving Atear’s interest - surely testing the patience of those sent in to govern the process.

We wondered whether what was in the books would scare others too - and a carve up of the huge business was the very best we could hope for.

Conflicting City messages - to the point of near-disruptor level - seemed to question Jingye’s position all too often too, then French authorities and coronavirus have provided a further distraction to getting this deal done.

Official Receiver Dave Chapman, special manager Alan Hudson, Jingye Group chief executive Huiming Li, special manager Sam Woodward and deputy official receiver Jag Saroe at British Steel's Scunthorpe works. (British Steel)

But patience and understanding appears to have been rewarded, and we now we have another new era for a cornerstone of a UK foundation industry.

What is clear, and what a £1.2 billion investment promises - three times the Greybull pledge from back in June 2016 - is that it cannot keep doing what it always has.

Fundamental changes are required. We’re seeing the start with a trimming of the workforce, and while devastating and a bitter pill to swallow - a business £880 million in debt (at last public count) has simply got to cut its cloth, or roll its steel accordngly.

We’ve heard figures stretching from £1 million a day to £1 million a week losses, well orders for HS2, HS3 and a now-in-doubt Heathrow expansion would be needed immediately to halt that and maintain employee numbers.

Then there’s the new world of Net Zero these heritage-laden industrial beasts have to live and breathe within.

Huiming Li, chief executive of Jingye Group, at British Steel's Scunthorpe works. (British Steel / Twitter)

We’ve seen incredible developments on the Humber, and it is no secret that British Steel needs to tap in to both carbon capture and storage and green hydrogen production.

Officials from the works have been at launches for the former, and Energy and Clean Growth Minister Kwasi Kwarteng’s visit to announce the Orsted and Phillips 66 link-up for the latter, with considerable help from Sheffield’s ITM Power, was laced with references to use in steel too.

Let’s hope the future is bright - it may be orange when it comes to the molten steel - but it also needs to be green.