Rolls-Royce bulk-buys Liberty steel ahead of feared collapse

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The UK's financial regulator has issued a £1.3m fine to a pensions adviser it described as "seriously incompetent" for his work advising members of the British Steel Pension Scheme.
More than 7,000 workers were affected by the British Steel pensions scandal.

Rolls-Royce is buying enough steel from Liberty to last until Christmas to guarantee supplies in case parent company GVG Alliance collapses.

The jet engine manufacturer is buying a relatively small amount of speciality steel for an undisclosed value, the Telegraph first reported, for fear the steel manufacturer may go out of business.

Liberty Steel is currently run by GFG Alliance, owned by tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, which is embroiled in the Greensill Capital scandal. 

Greensill Capital, advised by former PM David Cameron, was among GFG’s biggest lenders but its insolvency has left the company scrambling to find new financing. 

Last week the government announced it was drawing up plans to run Liberty Steel, in the event GFG Alliance collapsed.

The news of the Rolls-Royce bulk-buy follows Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng telling MPs that Liberty Steel “has a range of assets spread across England and Wales, in particular, and we are looking very closely at what specific assets and jobs are necessary. We hope to support the company in its entirety.”

Liberty Steel employs 5,000 workers across 12 sites in the UK.

GFG reportedly said in a letter last month that if Greensill stopped providing it with working capital it would collapse.