Tata Steel crisis: Javid calls for ‘responsible sales process’

Business Secretary Sajid Javid has called for Tata Steel bosses to agree a “responsible sales process” of the firm’s UK plants, as he flies out to India for talks on the company’s future.

Mr Javid will today (April 6) meet chairman Cyrus Mistry in Mumbai for an update on the sale of Tata’s UK operations.

The move comes just one week after Community, the steelworkers’ union, asked Tata for clarification on the sale’s timeframe and to ensure it avoided a ‘rushed process’.

In response, Tata said that while there is no “fixed timeline”, urgency is needed in the sale process to avoid what it called an extended “period of uncertainty” for both customers and employees.

Speaking on Twitter, Mr Javid told followers he is determined to find a “long-term solution”.

The government, he said in a statement, is using “all possible ministerial, official and diplomatic levers to help secure the long-term future of the steel industry in the UK“, the BBC has reported.

Mr Javid, who was away in Australia on a business trip when Tata revealed its plan to sell its UK steelworks, has said he was caught unaware by the announcement. Speaking to the BBC, he confirmed he knew the company was reviewing its operations in the UK but said it went “much further” than expected.

Tata Steel currently employs 15k UK workers at its plants in Rotherham, Port Talbot, Rotherham, Shotton and Corby, but its operations support thousands more jobs across the country.

A number of potential buyers are reported to have expressed interest in taking over parts of Tata Steel’s UK business, including Sanjeev Gupta, the chief executive of commodities company Liberty House, investment firm Greybull and German group ThyssenKrupp.