British steel makes comeback after TATA sale

British Steel said it is on track to delivering sustainable growth since it was bought by investment fund Greybull from TATA last summer.

Roland Junck, chairman of the business, said the company was on track to achieve annual revenues of £1.2bn, targeting margins of 10%. The year-end target is an increase of between 20% and 25% on 2015/16 turnover.

The Scunthorpe-based business has also secured a series of “significant” contracts including a deal to supply steel for the construction of Hinkley Point nuclear power station and rails for the Algerian and Italian train networks.

"I'm pleased to report that after our first seven months of trading, we are building on our promising start to life as British Steel. We're already making good progress with significant contract awards from both new and existing customers across the globe," said Junck.

Tata’s sale was announced in April in a move that safeguarded over 4,000 jobs. In order for the deal to go through workers were asked to accept a 3% pay cut and less generous pension arrangements, which is expected to be repaid to employees in June.

Greybull revealed that it had a £400m investment plan for the plant when it paid £1 for the business, which made a £89m annual loss under its previous ownership.

“We’ve implemented the first stage of our turnaround plan, returning the business to profit and putting it on a sustainable footing. We are now implementing the next stage of the plan, which will include growing our business and our brand,” said Junck.

Since the takeover the company has added 350 employees and has set out investment plans totalling nearly £40m.