Liberty House signs deal to reopen Dalzell Works

A ‘back to back’ agreement was confirmed this morning (Thursday) which involves the Scottish Government buying the plants from Tata steel and then immediately selling them on to Liberty for the same terms, incurring no cost to the taxpayer.

Liberty in turn takes responsibility for reopening, operating and investing in the two sites as part of its wider strategy to build an integrated and sustainable steel business across the UK.

Business Minister Fergus Ewing said: “When Tata Steel mothballed the Dalzell and Clydebridge plants, I said we would leave no stone unturned in the quest to find an alternative buyer.

“That is why we established a Scottish Steel Task Force and why I am delighted that our support for the steel industry has paid off.

“Liberty has a proven track record in the UK steel industry and has ambitions to make these plants viable and successful.

“It’s a huge tribute to the caliber of the highly skilled workforce, and the efforts of everyone on the Task Force, that Liberty recognise the tremendous potential of Scottish steel.”

Sanjeev Gupta, executive chair of Liberty House Group, added: “This agreement saves two great facilities in Scotland.

“Now we must turn our attention to restoring these businesses to their former glory, steadily rebuilding their skilled workforces and customer base.

“Clydebridge and Dalzell will fit well into our vision for an integrated, flexible and sustainable steel sector, from recycled local scrap using renewable energy making GREEN STEEL, to value added downstream and engineered products.

“Liberty is in a strong position to invest in the future of this industry and that is what we will be doing here in Scotland and across the UK. We’re grateful for the support of the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise in enabling us to reach this very positive historic agreement.

“This is our first step in Scotland, a beginning of a new journey, we are very excited about building a solid base here and expanding all our verticals as we are doing already in Wales and England.”