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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.

The Tata Steel Steelworks in Port Talbot.
Pic: iStock
Image:
Pic: iStock

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.

Pic: PA
Image:
Pic: PA

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

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Donald Trump says he will postpone 50% tariffs on EU until July

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Donald Trump says he will postpone 50% tariffs on EU until July

Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.

It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.

The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.

But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.

Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.

The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.

Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.

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“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.

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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”

On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.

Read more from Sky News:
Gail’s backer plots rare move with bid for steak chain Flat Iron
AA owners line up banks to steer path towards £4.5bn exit

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12 May: US and China reach agreement on tariffs

Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.

Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.

“We stand ready to defend our interests.”

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Gail’s backer plots rare move with bid for steak chain Flat Iron

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Gail's backer plots rare move with bid for steak chain Flat Iron

A backer of Gail’s bakeries is in advanced talks to acquire Flat Iron, one of Britain’s fastest-growing steak restaurant chains.

Sky News has learnt that McWin Capital Partners, which specialises in investments across the “food ecosystem”, has teamed up with TriSpan, another private equity investor, to buy a large stake in Flat Iron.

Restaurant industry sources said McWin would probably take the largest economic interest in Flat Iron if the deal completes.

They added that the two buyers were in exclusive discussions, with a deal possible in approximately a month’s time.

The valuation attached to Flat Iron was unclear on Sunday.

Flat Iron launched in 2012 in London’s Shoreditch and now has roughly 20 sites open.

The chain is solidly profitable, with its latest accounts showing underlying profits of £5.7m in the year to the end of August.

It already has private equity backing in the form of Piper, a leading investor in consumer brands, which injected £10m into the business in 2017.

Flat Iron was founded by Charlie Carroll, who retains an interest in it, but the company is now run by former Byron restaurant boss Tom Byng.

Houlihan Lokey, the investment bank, has been advising Flat Iron on the process.

McWin has reportedly been in talks to take full control of Gail’s while TriSpan’s portfolio has included restaurant operators such as the Vietnamese chain Pho and Rosa’s, a Thai food chain.

A spokesman for McWin declined to comment.

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AA owners line up banks to steer path towards £4.5bn exit

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AA owners line up banks to steer path towards £4.5bn exit

The owners of the AA, Britain’s biggest breakdown recovery service, are lining up bankers to steer a path towards a sale or stock market listing next year which could value the company at well over £4bn.

Sky News has learnt that JP Morgan and Rothschild are in pole position to be appointed to conduct a review of the AA’s strategic options following a recovery in its financial and operating performance.

The AA, which has more than 16 million customers, including 3.3 million individual members, is jointly owned by three private equity firms: Towerbrook Capital Partners, Warburg Pincus and Stonepeak.

Insiders said this weekend that any form of corporate transaction involving the AA was not imminent or likely to take place for at least 12 months.

They added that there was no fixed timetable and that a deal might not take place until after 2026.

Nevertheless, the impending appointment of advisers underlines the renewed confidence its shareholders now have in its prospects, with the business having recorded four consecutive years of customer, revenue and earnings growth.

A strategic review of the AA’s options is likely to encompass an outright sale, listing on the public markets or the disposal of a further minority stake.

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Stonepeak invested £450m into the company in a combination of common and preferred equity, in a transaction which completed in July last year.

That deal was undertaken at an enterprise valuation – comprising the AA’s equity and debt – of approximately £4bn, the shareholders said at the time.

Given the company’s growth and the valuation at which Stonepeak invested, any future transaction would be unlikely to take place with a price of less than £4.5bn, according to bankers.

The AA, which has a large insurance division as well as its roadside recovery operations, remains weighed down by a substantial – albeit declining – debt burden.

Its most recent set of financial results disclosed that it had £1.9bn of net debt, which it is gradually paying down as profitability improves.

AA owners over the years

The company has been through a succession of owners during the last 25 years.

In 1999, it was bought by Centrica, the owner of British Gas, for £1.1bn.

It was then sold five years later to CVC Capital Partners and Permira, two buyout firms, for £1.75bn, and sat under the corporate umbrella Acromas alongside Saga for a decade.

The AA listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2014, but its shares endured a miserable run, being taken private nearly seven years later at little more than 15% of its value on flotation.

Under the ownership of Towerbrook and Warburg Pincus, the company embarked on a long-term transformation plan, recruiting a new leadership team in the form of chairman Rick Haythornthwaite – who also chairs NatWest Group – and chief executive Jakob Pfaudler.

For many years, the AA styled itself as “Britain’s fourth emergency service”, competing with fierce rival the RAC for market share in the breakdown recovery sector.

Founded in 1905 by a quartet of driving enthusiasts, the AA passed 100,000 members in 1934, before reaching the one million mark in 1950.

Last year, it attended 3.5 million breakdowns on Britain’s roads, with 2,700 patrols wearing its uniform.

The company also operates the largest driving school business in the UK under the AA and BSM brands.

In the past, it has explored a sale of its insurance arm, which also has millions of customers, at various points but is not actively doing so now.

By recruiting a third major shareholder last, the AA mirrored a deal struck in 2021 by the RAC.

The RAC’s then owners – CVC Capital Partners and the Singaporean state fund GIC – brought the technology-focused private equity firm, Silver Lake, in as another major investor.

A spokesman for the AA declined to comment on Saturday.

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