Steel plant buyout

STEEL tycoon Sanjeev Gupta has bought more steel works, buying two pipe mills in Hartlepool from Tata Steel UK.

The mills employ around 140 that his Liberty House group plans to keep on, making pipes for the oil and gas industry. Tata Steel is keeping its 20-inch tube mill at the same site, which employs a further 270, and is investing £1m in the site.

Bimlendra Jha, chief executive of Tata Steel UK, said the sale was key to the future of the rest of the UK company, threatened by an industry downturn. Gupta has been buying steel assets as he seeks to build a full supply chain.