More than a dozen firms step up to support steel

MORE than a dozen firms are understood to have offered to help British Steel secure raw materials for its Scunthorpe works since the Government took control of the business.

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Ministers took over the Scunthorpe steelworks under emergency legislation passed on Saturday in an effort to stop Britain’s last primary steelmaking facility from closing irrevocably.

British Steel now faces a race against time to secure enough raw materials to keep its two blast furnaces going, and is looking at emergency measures including working with other businesses in the sector.