Sheffield steel: Liberty Speciality Steel facing new crisis from winding up petition

The business faces a winding up order in court on Wednesday, May 21, brought by Harsco Metals Group over unpaid debts.

The firm is seeking to force SSUK into liquidation so assets can be sold to pay £4m it claims it is owed for supplying machinery and staff.

SteelPhalt, a division of Harsco, is based at Sheffield Road, The Ickles, Rotherham. It uses steel slag from the steel industry to create asphalt.

The Caseboard website states five other creditors are supporting the action: Swallownest Engineering Company, Kings Of Rotherham, Rs Components, Intralinks Inc and C & J Welding & Fabrication.

SSUK is part of LIberty Steel which is among scores of companies owned by GFG Alliance, led by Sanjeev Gupta.

A Liberty Steel spokesperson said: “Discussions continue with creditors. Liberty understands the concern this will create for Speciality Steel UK colleagues and remains committed to doing all it can to maintain the Speciality Steel business.”

SSUK has debts of £618m, according to court documents.

Last week a recovery plan was ditched the day before it was due to be decided in court.

Bosses at the firm announced they would “quickly consider alternative options,” after withdrawing a proposal they had been working on for six months.

The business owes £289m to lender Greensill Capital, £288m to sister companies, £23m to unsecured creditors, £10m to another, unnamed, lender and £7.7m in tax to HMRC, according to court documents filed in December.

At the time, judge Mr Justice Hildyard, outlined what could happen.

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He said: “Liquidation would not only damage the financial interests of the various creditors concerned, whom I have briefly described, but it would also cause damage, inevitably, to the some 1,500 employees of the Plan Company (SSUK) who would be automatically dismissed by the process.

“Further, it seems fair also to say that the Plan Company's five facilities in the United Kingdom, which are in Rotherham, Stocksbridge, Brinsworth, Bolton and Wednesbury, are important economic assets for the community in each place.

“Again, put shortly, liquidation would have more than financial results; it would be a very grievous blow against the employees and also the local communities.”