Sanjeev Gupta, founder of Liberty Steel assured the UK unions that met with him on Tuesday that the company has adequate short-term funding and is seeking alternative finance sources to Greensill Capital.
Gupta told the unions during the meeting that the company was looking to resolve the issues of some of its loss-making units through measures that include staff furloughs and tightening cost controls, according to media reports.
The Liberty Steel founder met with three of the UK’s biggest workers’ unions on Tuesday after they expressed concern over the future of the more than 3,000 steelworkers at Liberty Steel’s 12 plants across the UK.
The company had said at that time that GFG Alliance, Liberty Steel’s parent company, had begun its search for alternate financers after Greensill Capital went into administration on Mar 8.
GFG Alliance has stated that the group’s overall operations remain robust and are benefitting from the 13-year high in steel prices.
The three British unions, Community, GMB, and Unite, that met with Gupta on Tuesday said in a joint statement that they found the discussion constructive and urged the government to take an active role to safeguard jobs and facilitate comprehensive solutions. They reiterated that Liberty Steel was a strategic business for the UK.