Government needs to back UK steel capability

President’s Column March 2025

The new government initiative to meet with leaders from the UK steel industry to agree a strategy for the long-term future of UK steelmaking is a commendable and long-awaited realisation of the importance of this industry to the economy and security of our nation. However, given the recent history of overseas involvement in the UK steel sector, it would seem that the government needs to listen and learn quickly about the extremely strong capacity and capability available from the steelwork contractors based in the UK and Ireland.

Due to a lack of knowledge and understanding of this national capability, the government continues to invite overseas companies to bid for large public infrastructure projects to deliver their decarbonisation agenda. In addition to the (now reduced) HS2 project, these include large scale projects for bridges and transmission towers, structures that are well within the capabilities of BCSA members. Clearly, this situation needs urgent attention and the BCSA has written directly to the Government Ministers responsible for Energy and Industry to urge them both to support the UK constructional steelwork industry to deliver the needs of the government’s net-zero commitments.

Unfortunately, the situation we find ourselves in is neither new nor unexpected since, for the past half-century, the strategy to secure UK jobs for UK workers has been developed around foreign investment into once untouchable national corporations. Our latest government clearly supports this approach, by describing the recently agreed takeover of Belfast-based shipbuilder Harland & Wolff by its Spanish and state-owned rival Navantia, as “strengthening our sovereign capability … while building the industrial partnerships that will drive growth.”

In direct contrast, in early 2025, the then US President Joe Biden blocked a proposed $15bn takeover of the Pennsylvania based steel producer, US Steel, by its Japanese rival, Nippon Steel. Despite joint assurances from Nippon and US Steel that the venture would secure American jobs for American workers, the reasons for the political block were cited as a risk to National Security, with an accompanying US government statement reading as follows:

“Steel powers our country: our infrastructure, our auto industry, and our defence industrial base. Without domestic steel production and domestic steel workers, our nation is less strong and less secure.” Here in the UK, it would seem that this ship has long sailed.

The UK now has foreign-owned airports, ports, energy, railway and water companies, and there is no longer a locally owned UK car producer of any scale. Boots, Cadbury, ICI, and even Camelot who run the National Lottery, are all in foreign ownership. In its final tax year as a British company, Boots contributed £89 million to the UK economy, but now registered in Switzerland, that figure has shrunk to around £9 million. This is an obvious consequence of the sale of national assets, but one that seems to have been completely disregarded for the short-term capital gains.

We need to hastily educate the government that the one shining light in what could be viewed as the ‘Great British sell-off’ is the construction industry which, with almost 6% of the UK’s company asset value (the fifth largest of all sectors), has less than 1% of foreign-ownership.

While also ensuring the capacity and specialist knowledge to support the UK’s construction and environmental needs, it would seem remarkably clear that we are an industry worth supporting and promoting by awarding national projects to national companies. I’m hopeful that I will be able to update you on the government responses in next month’s column.

Gary Simmons
BCSA President