British Steel receive £70m rescue deal from Chinese firm

British Steel is set to announce a £70m rescue deal with a Chinese industrial giant, which could save more than 4,000 jobs across the country.

The Jingye Group has agreed in principle to purchase British Steel, where the government will help through loan guarantees and other financial support.

British Steel has been kept running by the government via the Official Receiver since May, when the company went into liquidation.

This deal came into place after talks with the company behind Turkey’s military pension fund, Ataer, stalled last month.

The 4,000 employees across British Steel’s Scunthorpe and Teeside sites, will be delighted with the deal, which as also secured more than 1,000 workers in The Netherlands and France – as well as more than 20,000 in the European supply chain.

British Steel will continue to be run by the Official Receiver for at least a month before being transferred across to the Jingye Group.