SCUNTHORPE STEEL WORKS IN PROFIT AFTER BUYOUT

Scunthorpe can produce 4.5million tonnes of steel a year - enough to build 615 Eiffel Towers

The Scunthorpe site is more than 2,200 acres and has more than 100 miles of its own rail network

The lengths of rail they make for Network Rail are up to 700 feet long

Four blast furnaces on site are named after past queens: Mary, Bess, Anne and Victoria

It uses 40million gallons of water every week, taken from local rivers

The blast furnaces can reach 2,200 degrees Celcius

BRITISH Steel is set to turn a profit this year – just months after being bought by private equity firm Greybull Capital.

Tata’s steelworks in Scunthorpe was purchased by Greybull, which launched a turnaround plan.

It is run by Marc Meyohas and brother Nathaniel, the secretive French brothers who set up the firm with Swede Richard Perlhagen.

Investments have included Plessey Semiconductors, retailer Game Group and holiday airline Monarch.

British Steel launched in June and quickly won new customers, including Caterpillar, Toyota, and Network Rail. Greybull has invested £50m this year with £7m to replace gasholders, £10m to improve the efficiency and reliability of its Appleby Coke Ovens and £4.2m invested in Scunthorpe’s basic oxygen steelmaking plant.

British Steel’s executive chairman Roland Junck said: ‘I am delighted to be able to announce that we have hit our performance targets and returned the business to profitability in our first 100 days as an independent company.’

He said he maintains a constructive dialogue with the Government about strategy to support British Steel and ensure it operates on a level playing field.