Thousands of jobs saved at Liberty Steel, which has two plants in South Yorkshire, as winding up orders retracted

The GMB Union said the move had saved thousands of jobs. Liberty Steel said that, following positive discussions with HMRC, winding up petitions have been withdrawn. In parallel, constructive discussions continue with existing creditors to repay liabilities and with new lenders over longer term refinancing of the business, Liberty Steel said

Jeffrey Kabel, Chief Transformation Officer, said: “We’re pleased to report good further progress in our negotiations with creditors including U.K’s HMRC. We are committed to repaying all

creditors and this is an important step in enabling us to restructure and achieve long-term refinancing.

"Our core international businesses have continued to generate strong returns and achieve record production levels despite the sky-high energy costs facing energy-intensive industries across the UK and Europe. We will continue to progress our efforts to refocus and refinance our operations for the long-term.”

Liberty’s two main plants are at Rotherham and Stocksbridge in South Yorkshire.

In a statement, Liberty said: "Steelmaking at Rotherham and Stocksbridge has continued over the first quarter of the year following the injection of shareholder funding that enabled the restart of operations in October. A steelmaking campaign in February met planned production targets, and another has been underway during early March. Planning is advancing well for further campaigns."

The GMB Union said the move had saved thousands of jobs.

Charlotte Childs, National Officer, said: “Retracting these winding up orders will be a massive comfort to our members at Liberty Steel.

“Thousands of jobs will be saved in the short term, but we are far from out of the woods.

“It is right that shareholder investment has been committed to secure the future of jobs and plants at Liberty Steel.

“GMB will now be seeking to continue constructive dialogue with GFG Alliance to ensure the impact of the financial restructuring and transformation package is felt in the right places.”

Alun Davies, National Officer for Community the steelworkers’ union, said: "The unions have been pressing HMRC and GFG to negotiate and the deal is extremely welcome. This is the best route to protect jobs and the deal will increase confidence that GFG is committed to Liberty Steel UK. GFG must now make good on promises to refinance Liberty Steel and deliver the investments we need to secure a long-term sustainable future.

"It’s high time the Government stepped up to support Liberty Steel, and all British steelmakers, by taking urgent action to bring our unaffordable energy prices into line with EU competitors. Liberty Steel is a strategically important business and has a crucial role to play producing green steels for a low-carbon economy."

John Healey, the MP for Wentworth & Dearne and Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, said: "This is good news for our Rotherham steel plant and a relief for workers who were unsettled about the company’s future.

“The fact that HMRC has agreed a repayments plan should also be seen as showing some government confidence in Liberty’s long-term refinancing prospects.

“What we need now is the new investment promised by Liberty’s bosses and the long-pledged government action on energy costs for all UK steelmakers.”