The UK’s biggest steelworks will cease production today after more than 100 years, leading to thousands of job losses across South Wales.

Blast Furnace 4 – the final furnace operating at Tata Steel’s plant in Port Talbot – will be fully shut down at about 5pm, with the last steel made late on Monday evening.

In an email sent to staff and seen by Sky News, Tata UK’s chief executive Rajesh Nair admitted it would be a “difficult day” of “great emotion and reflection”.

Tata Steel is replacing the furnace with a greener electric arc furnace which will use UK-sourced scrap steel, but that will not be operational until 2028.

The transition will cost £1.25bn, £500m of which is being paid by the British government and will lead to nearly 3,000 job losses, almost 75% of the workforce.

Unions have battled for months to push back the furnace closure and reduce the number of redundancies.

Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community Union which represents most steelworkers at Port Talbot, said it was an “incredibly sad and poignant day” for the British steel industry.

“It’s also a moment of huge frustration – it simply didn’t have to be this way.”

“Last year Community and GMB published a credible alternative plan for Port Talbot which would have ensured a fair transition to green steelmaking and prevented compulsory redundancies. Tata’s decision to reject that plan will go down as an historic missed opportunity,” he added.

In an email sent to staff last Friday, Tata UK’s chief executive Rajesh Nair said: “Port Talbot has long been associated with the iron and steel industry and the closure of our heavy end operations will be a hugely significant and emotional day for employees – past and present – contractor partners, and the local community.

“While it will of course be a difficult day, it is a necessary step as we transition to a green steel future and secure the legacy of steelmaking at Port Talbot for future generations.”

Read more:
Closure ‘will smash community to pieces’

As well as around 2,800 job losses, many fear there will be a greater number of workers in the wider supply chain impacted.

Today the Welsh government announced that businesses impacted will be able to apply for funding to overcome “short-term challenges” during the transition phase.

Secretary of state for Wales and chair of the Transition Board, Jo Stevens, said: “Businesses and workers that supply Tata have been feeling the impact of the changes at Port Talbot for months.

“That’s why I announced this £13.5m fund within weeks of the new UK government coming into office, and have worked at pace with partners in Welsh government and the council to get applications open.

“I encourage affected businesses to come forward and check their eligibility for this financial support, as part of the wider support package we are putting in place. This government will back workers and businesses whatever happens.”

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The giant Port Talbot steelworks will not close completely – it will continue to operate hot and cold strip mills to roll steel slab imported from overseas.

But it is a hugely significant day not only for the UK’s industrial infrastructure, but for a town built on steel that will no longer produce it.

The government announced earlier this month it will publish a strategy for the future of UK steel next spring

Ordinary investors will be given the chance to participate in a £500m flotation of Applied Nutrition, the fast-growing sports supplements maker, when it unveils plans for an initial public offering in London this week.

Sky News has learnt that Liverpool-based Applied Nutrition will issue an announcement signalling its expected intention to float on Monday morning, paving the way for one of the City’s most prominent floats of 2024.

City sources said that a retail offering to private investors would be coordinated by RetailBook, enabling them to acquire millions of pounds of stock at the IPO price.

Issuing its EITF document will enable shares in Applied Nutrition to begin trading before the Budget in late October, when chancellor Rachel Reeves is forecast to substantially increase capital gains tax.

The Sunday Times recently reported that the timing of the company’s float had been brought forward to enable existing shareholders – including founder and chief executive Thomas Ryder – to offload parts of their holding without incurring CGT at a higher level.

Applied Nutrition has already attracted pre-IPO investments from prominent businesspeople including Peter Cowgill, the former JD Sports Fashion boss who authorised its purchase of a large stake in the company.

Mr Cowgill previously sat on the board of Applied Nutrition as a non-executive, but stepped down when he left JD Sports in 2022.

It has also appointed Andy Bell, founder of the London-listed investment platform AJ Bell, as its chairman, further bolstering its credentials for an initial public offering (IPO).

Bankers at Deutsche Numis are handling the float.

Founded by Mr Ryder, Applied Nutrition formulates and makes premium nutrition supplements for professional athletes and gym enthusiasts.

It is the official nutrition partner of a range of English football clubs, including Premier League side Fulham, and the Scottish Premiership side Glasgow Rangers.

The company, which sells its products in over 60 countries, also has partnerships with professional boxers, MMA stars and in sports including basketball, cycling and rugby league.

Applied Nutrition’s largest brands include ABE – All Black Everything – which is a pre-workout range now stocked by Walmart, the world’s biggest physical retailer and former owner of Asda.

Other products in its portfolio include BodyFuel, a hydration drink.

A successful listing for the company would boost the London Stock Exchange’s broader efforts to attract fast-growing companies to list their shares in the UK.

Decisions by a growing number of companies to shift their listings to the US – with Paddy Power-owner Flutter Entertainment becoming the latest example – have cast a pall over the City.

Last year saw the number of companies going public in London halving, with proceeds raised from initial public offerings (IPOs) falling by 40% year-on-year.

A spokesperson for Applied Nutrition declined to comment.

Carlyle, the American investment giant, has become the latest global fund to weigh an investment in Thames Water as the stricken utility races to avoid being nationalised.

Sky News has learnt that Carlyle, which has roughly $435bn in assets under management, is at the very preliminary stages of assessing whether an investment in Thames Water Utilities Limited (TWUL) would be viable.

Britain’s biggest water and wastewater company, which has about 16 million customers, is edging towards the brink of collapse after warning in recent days that its financial liquidity is set to expire months earlier than previously anticipated.

It has also seen its credit rating downgraded further into junk territory by two leading rating agencies.

Carlyle is one of a long list of prospective investors approached by Rothschild, the investment bank advising Thames Water’s board, as the utility scrambles to raise more than £3bn in the coming months.

This weekend, people close to the process confirmed that Carlyle had been approached but said it was “too early” to judge whether the firm might participate in a rescue deal through one or more of its funds.

Among the others sounded out by Rothschild are Brookfield, the Canadian investment giant, and Global Infrastructure Partners, which is now owned by BlackRock.

Many investors and industry analysts believe, however, that the Rothschild-led process is destined to fail given the massive financial restructuring which faces Thames Water.

The company has about £16bn in debt, with approximately £10bn of that accounted for by a group of 90 funds which have appointed Jefferies and Akin Gump to represent them.

That syndicate is now preparing its own rescue plan in the coming weeks, which is likely to include an enormous debt-for-equity swap that would wipe out the existing shareholders.

Thames Water’s future remains so shrouded in uncertainty because the industry watchdog, Ofwat, has rejected the company’s initial spending plans for the next five-year regulatory period.

The company is now engaged in discussions with Ofwat ahead of its final determination in December.

A bridging loan of about £1bn is being contemplated by some of Thames Water’s creditors, but some stakeholders remain sceptical that any new financing will be forthcoming without greater regulatory certainty.

“Until the lenders know what they are bridging to, the concern deepens that they risk throwing good money after bad,” said one fund.

TWUL’s board is said to have met in the last 48 hours to discuss the implications of its latest rating downgrades and impending liquidity shortfall.

One creditor said that Ofwat was expected to appoint an independent monitor next week to scrutinise the company’s progress against its turnaround plan.

Ofwat, which signalled in August that it would make such an appointment, declined to comment.

If new investment into Thames Water is not forthcoming before it runs out of cash, the government will have little choice but to sanction the temporary nationalisation of the company.

This would be done through a Special Administration Regime (SAR), a procedure tested only once before when Bulb Energy collapsed in 2021.

As part of its contingency planning for implementing a far-reaching restructuring, Thames Water has booked court dates in November to progress a rescue deal.

A source close to the company said that Thames Water “continues to look at all options for extending its liquidity and raising new equity”.

“Reserving court dates is sensible forward planning and a part of keeping all options open.”